Cute and Simple: Felt Pot-Holder Tutorial

I have been *delighted* on many occasions with handmade pot holders. These are really so useful, I use them (all) every day: for teapots, hot dishes, and simply to look pretty on the table. I’ve been thinking about making some for the longest time, and, on one of the days last week when some of the children were sewing felt creatures at the table, I decided to try my hand at one, and was pleasantly surprised at the speed, and the cuteness of what began to come together. Although, frankly, I think anything made from felt is going to be cute, it simply is just the nature of the material.

This is a relatively easy tutorial: no difficult stitching, and because it is felt, it is enhanced by a simple design. (Great for anyone, especially children, who have basic sewing ability) It is also quite quick: just in time for Mothers Day this Sunday!For the base piece, I used an A4 (21.0 x 29.7cm, 8.27 x 11.69 inches) sheet of paper as my template. I folded down one corner to make a square (21 x 21 cm, 8.27 x 8.27 inches), then cut this size in white felt.
I have been buying these gorgeous packs of felt in graduated colours, so my Aesthetic Consultant, Grace, decided we should use all four of the yellow colours in strips as our base.I folded my square template in half, then half again (lengthways) to make four long, rectangular, same-sized strips. Using one of these strips as my template, I cut four pieces of felt, just slightly bigger than the strip (so they would overlap for sewing down) We lay these down, darkest colour to lightest, and using a complimentary thread colour (once again my Aesthetic Consultant was called upon, and she didn’t take the decision lightly), we sewed these down using a very simple running stitch (basically, one secured with a double stitch, it is a matter of drawing the needle and thread in and outnumber a straight line) (apologies for some of these photos: they are very dark as I took them at night)Grace did the first half, and then I finished it off (while she decided on the colours for the next part) I running stitch-ed all around the sides to hold it together. For the central motif, once again using the square as a template, I folded it in half, then half again, this time not folding into a long rectangle, but into a square. I cut a piece of yellow felt, and then one slightly larger in white.Then, I cut out two hearts in pink, and 8 green leaf shapes (nothing complicated, very simple shapes). With the same running stitch, I sewed these onto the yellow square (just stitching down the middle, so easy!),

…Then stitched the decorated yellow square onto the white one; Then stitched that white square onto the base square of graduated strips…

And stitched, drank tea, and stitched 🙂

To finish: I had stitched all around the sides of the base square with the running stitch. To leave it at that would be fine, but I decided to blanket stitch further on the edge to tidy it up and make it neater (I also love blanket stitch, so any excuse really!) While blanket stitching, I stitched in a little loop of ribbon on a corner so the pot holder can be hung on a hook.

Simple and cute, what more could you ask for?!

• blanket stitch,
• easy,
• felt,
• pot holder,
• running stitch,
• Sewing,
• simple,
• tutorial