Sew: Simple Square Potholder Tutorial {The Perfect Quick & Easy Handmade Gift}

I’ve kept things really simple because I was making them for me and I prefer my potholders plain. I always manage to stick the hanging tabs into my casserole! I don’t quilt my potholders because I’ve heard it can reduce the effectiveness of the insul-bright I use to make the potholders heat proof. So that’s a time saving. Also, simple is very quick and easy to sew, these took about half an hour. There’s no denying, it’s nearly Christmas and these make a super cute handmade gift, especially paired with Brownies in a Jar. You could easily make a huge number number of these by doing one step per night. When I do projects like this in bulk, I just sit and pin each one while I watch tv.

If you were making these as a gift, you could embellish these in so many ways! Add a loop for hanging, use various coordinating fabrics or add some embroidery or decorative stitching. You could use up some scraps by stitching them into a big patchwork, press your seams and cut out your squares from that.

I made my potholders 9 1/2 inches square because that was what would fit on my fabric. I think the size is perfect but go with what works for you. For each potholder, I cut 2 x squares of cotton fabric and 2 x squares of insul-bright.

The insul-bright says the shiniest side should face the heat source, so I laid one piece shiny side down with the second piece shiny side up. I then laid my two cotton pieces on top with right sides together. If you want to add a hanging loop, you can you can use ribbon or sew one out of fabric and just position it like the pic and pin. I pinned the layers together on all four sides, leaving a turning gap in one side.

Using a 3/8″ seam allowance, I stitched around, leaving that turning gap. Be sure to back stitch a the beginning and end!

I clipped the corners, through all layers and then trimmed away the insul-bright from the seam allowance. I also trimmed away the insul-bright in the turning gap. Duck bill scissors make this easy.

Then I turned things right side out and gently poked out the corners. I gave the potholders a quick press, folding in the fabric at the turning gap. I pinned the turning gap so it was sitting nicely.

Then I top stitched around the whole potholder, closing the turning gap. And voila!

These are lovely and simple, cute and functional and a perfect gift! These are a great Christmas, housewarming or hostess gift. You could parcel them up with Brownies in a Jar and a brownie pan or mixing bowl. Or use your potholders and some ribbon as a cosy for homemade baileys. Or you could buy a couple of nice tea towel packs and use one pack as the fabric for the potholders and give a matching tea towel and pot holder set. I’m just glad that my icky old ones are no more. If you decide to make some pot holders, I’d love to see and hear about them xxxx