I am the kind of person who will, after the last of the store-bought-who-knows-when potholders gets a big hole in it, do completely without potholders for months, risking my fingers to pull bread and cookies out of the oven using a dishtowel as I continue to insist that I’m going to sew myself plenty of potholders “as soon as I get around to it.” Hallelujah for holidays, I tell you. After I decided to sew potholders as Christmas presents for all my far-flung family and friends, it was as simple as pie to tack an extra half-dozen onto the list for myself. Since potholders are small and scrappy, no two have to look exactly alike, and with a plethora of wonderfully detailed tutorials online, you can make a completely new set for every household. The outer fabrics bust your stash of beautiful prints that you’ll still get to enjoy every day in the kitchen, and the inner fabrics can come either from store-bought heat-resistant batting, or just from old bath towels for a little upcycling bonus. While you’ll have to wait until after the holiday season for my own favorite nine-patch potholder tutorial (there’s only so much craftiness I can do while spending Christmas ten hours away from my sewing machine), here are five more potholder tutorials that you’re going to love. Some are scrappy, some are sturdy, some are cute, and none of them even require so much as a pattern to sew–how much easier could you get? Potholders do make a good showpiece for scraps of your most wonderful prints, but this particular potholder tutorial from Modern Domestic is noteworthy because it does exactly the opposite: it starts with your plainest cotton or linen cloth, and then shows you how to use free motion quilting to make it fabulous. Also, if you’ve ever wondered how to use fusible thread–read this tutorial and you’ll know! [baking homemade cookies photo via Shutterstock; yellow and green potholder image by Modern Domestic, used with attribution] Next » With these scrap-busting potholders from My Girl Thursday, the only thing you need to measure is the batting! You’ll be piecing your scraps right to that batting, and if that sounds hard to picture…well, it’s time to read the tute! The scrap-busting potholder tutorial also calls for a ribbon loop at one corner. After taking all that care to use fabrics that can handle the heat of the kitchen, don’t spoil it all at the end by using a ribbon that has any polyester or other wonky fibers. [Image by My Girl Thursday, used with attribution] Next » I do technically love oven mitts more than I love potholders, but the fact that potholders sew up so much more quickly and simply leads me to sew many, many more of them than the more fiddly oven mitts. The beauty of this pocket potholder tutorial from Prudent Baby, however, is that the potholder? Has a pocket! These pocket potholders sew up almost as quickly and simply as traditional flat potholders, and yet make mitts that are almost as cozy as oven mitts–a perfect combination! [Image by Prudent Baby, used with attribution] Next » Tired of squares? Here’s a pieced potholder that’s circular, meaning there aren’t any corners to get snagged on the oven door or dragged over the burner. This retro potholder tutorial from Going Sew Crazy results in a potholder that looks complicated, but due to some clever origami folding is quite simple to master. The retro potholder doesn’t call for any additional batting, and although the folding and piecing in layers will give you some thickness, you may want to consider either adding your own batting to the project, or using these as potholders for serving, not cooking–they’re certainly pretty enough for company! [Image by Going Sew Crazy, used with attribution] Next » My aunt calls these Paula Deen potholders, and I can certainly see any kind of cooking superstar wielding the result of this double potholder tutorial from The Boy Trifecta. Although these potholders do call for larger amount of fabrics than the previous scrappy examples, the way that they protect your forearms being burnt as you carry a pan of brownies from the oven to the counter will win you over. The fact that they’re so much larger than a typical potholder can actually be an energy saver, as well–I generally make at least two conventional potholders as a gift for each friend or relative during the holidays, but with a double potholder, I only make one! [Image by The Boy Trifecta, used with attribution]
