How to Make a Hand Sewn Potholders

Through this tutorial I will explain how to create "Hand Sewn" potholders. Making the potholders by sewing by hand and not using a sewing machine is known as "Hand Sewn." This is often confused as "Hand Made," which means made by hand using a sewing machine.

This tutorial is instructed with the idea that the reader already has basic knowledge of hand sewing. The materials you need are as follows: sewing needle, plenty of thread, backing, batting (cotton wadding prepared in sheets for use in quilts), material scissors, and a cloth measuring tape.

First you need to find a piece of fabric at least 17 inches by 8 1/2 inches that you want to use to make your pair of potholders. A great place to find fun fabric is yard sales. They are a hit and miss so you may just want to get some from a fabric store. You can also find backing at yard sales. I use white sheets. They are a great material for backing.

I suggest to always wash the fabric before you use it. It seems easier to handle while sewing if it has been freshly washed and dried. Also if you got your fabric from a yard sale you might not be sure what is on it or has been on it. This is also where you would wash your backing if you got that from a yard sale as well.

Cut your chosen fabric, backing, and batting into 8 1/2 inch squares.

Cut your edging (same material as backing) into a 2 inch wide strip. Length of the edging doesn't matter because you can just cut it off where you need to for each potholder.

Use a straight stitch to attach the fabric to the backing and batting. Start at the top left corner and stitch across the top.

Continue the stitch in a box pattern around the potholder. Try for at least three stitches across the face of the potholder to keep it all together. Try to avoid any pictures or characters that your fabric has on it.

Fold your edging over the outside of the potholder. Start at the top left corner again and use a back-stitch this time to ensure that the edging will stay on.

Tack down the bottom left, bottom right, and top right corners of the edging to the potholder.

Tacking down is a loop stitch that is used for corners of right angles to hold down a fold in the material.

Fold the last two inches over to make a loop at the last upper left corner. This loop is used to hang the potholders on your kitchen wall.

Stitch the loop down with a backstitch and then knot off the thread.

Repeat steps 3 through 10 to create your second potholder.

Cut a small square of cardstock and punch a hole in the corner.

Put your contact info on the card. Make sure to include the price of your pair of potholders. Consider putting a "name" for the pair. IE if you are using Pokemon as your fabric, put that on the card too.

Attach your new card with a piece of yarn through the two loops of your potholder.

Store your potholder pairs in a clean storage bucket or box. You are now well on your way to having a box full of "Hand Sewn" potholders to bring to the next craft show.