How to Sew Potholders in 8 Easy Steps

I was strolling through the store the other day and I saw some super cute round potholders and I thought they were super cute so I decided to make some. Today I’m going to share how to sew potholders in just 8 easy steps.

Supplies Needed to Sew Potholders

• Fabric for the outside of your potholders
• Batting
• Insulated Batting
• coordinating thread
• bias tape (extra wide double fold)
• sewing pins or sewing clipsh
• scissors or rotary cutting set
• sewing machine and needle (this is my sewing machine)

You don’t need much to make these. I was using up some scraps I had leftover from other projects but if you have to buy new then you will only need 1/4 yard of the fabric, 1/4 yard of the batting, and 1/4 yard of the insulated batting. I ended up using about 1 1/2 yards of the bias tape.

How to Sew Potholders

Step 1: Cut circles out of your fabrics. I used a kid sized plate that is exactly 8 inches to trace and then cut out my circles. You need 2 circles of your outside fabric, 2 circles of the batting, and 1 circle of the insulated batting.

For my outside fabric I actually opted to use two different fabrics, one for each side of the potholder.

Step 2: Next you will make a stack of your fabrics. First, lay one of your outside fabric circles down with the right side of the fabric down. Then add one cotton batting circle, the insulated batting circle and another cotton batting circle on top. Then lay your other outside fabric circle on top of all of those with the right side up.

Step 3: Pin or clip the layers together. Then sew lines or some sort of design to quilt them together. I opted to cheat a little and use the lines in the chevron design on the one side as a guide.

Step 4: Unfold your bias tape. Pin or clip the raw edge of the bias tape to the edge of your circle. Pin it going all the way around, stopping just where you started- do not overlap.

Step 5: Sew all the way around your circle, sewing in that fold that is closest to the edge. Remember to backstitch a little each time you start and stop.

Step 6: Fold your bias tape over to the other side so that it covers the edge of your circle. Flip the whole thing over. Pin or clip the bias tape down.

Cut the end of your bias tape off but leave about 6 inches from the circle. We will use this to make a loop you can hang the potholder from.

Step 7: Sew all along the bottom edge of the bias tape to sew it down. Go all the way around the circle and then to the end of your length of bias tape.

Step 8: Fold the end of your bias tape over twice and sew down. Then fold the bias tape in half to make a loop and sew down to attach it to the potholder.

And you’re done! Now you know how to sew a potholder. Well, at least one way to sew a potholder. There’s a bunch of different ways to do it and I love that.

More Potholder Tutorials