Purple Pot Holder

Make a pretty potholder or two out of an old cotton shirt! I found a purple shirt at the thrift shop that had some pretty flowers and butterflies on it. I thought it would be perfect for this project. This would make a great gift for Mother's day or a nice house warming gift. You'll be surprised how quickly this comes together.  I have made many of these over the past few years for co-workers, friends and family.

You will need an old cotton shirt, old pair of jeans, sewing machine with a heavy duty needle, iron, thread, measuring tape, scissors, seam ripper and straight pins.

Cut up the shirt at the seams. Remove buttons with seam ripper and put in your button jar.

Iron the shirt pieces.

The potholder is a 9 patch. I used a 3" square sticky note for the pattern. cut out 9 of these for the front of the pot holder. (5 print and 4 solid)

Arrange the 9 squares how you want them. sew 3 squares together(3/8" seam allowance)  this will be the first row. Sew the next 3 squares together for the second row and then do the same for the third row. Press the seams open. Stitch the 3 rows together.

cut a 7" square out of paper. Use this to cut out 3 pieces of denim. You may only need 2 layers of denim if it is very thick.

Cut a 7" square out of the purple fabric.This will be the back of your pot holder.

Cut a couple of strips 1-1/4" wide. Stitch the ends of these together so you have one long strip at least 32" long.

Layer the pieces, in this order: bottom, (right side down) the 3 denim pieces and then place the front on top . Pin these all together. Trim all 4 sides so all the layers are all the same size.

When you have all 5 layers pinned together, (Top, 3 denim and the back) Stitch in the ditch. This means to sew over the seams in the front piece, through all 5 layers, removing the pins as you get to them. Decide which corner you want the loop to be at. With your scissors, round off the other 3 corners.

Pin the bias trim around the 4 sides of the potholder. Remember to leave an extra 5" for the loop. Sew with 1/3" seam allowance. Turn bias trim over to the back side of pot holder, turn under raw edge and pin. Machine stitch all around the edge of pot holder including the extra 5" for the hanging loop. Fold loop over and stitch down.