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Sewing tutorial: Shabby-style potholders

10.09.2017 by Sabine Schmidt

Nähanleitung: Topflappen im Shabby Style
Baking a delicious cake from very simple ingredients - our grandmothers knew how to do that. We sew beautiful pot holders in shabby style from very simple ingredients - our grandmothers would certainly have liked them! :)
Maximum sewing results with minimal effort - it's possible! We simply take a beautiful, plain floral fabric and embroider it with a twin needle. This looks stylish and stabilizes the future pot holder, giving it a full, soft feel. But why shabby style? Let me tell you about my grandmother. As a young girl, still in school, my grandmother had a little embroidery sampler booklet in her needlework class. It was a simple, multi-layered linen booklet into which the embroidery stitches they had just learned were stitched. My grandma was proud of her sampler booklet well into old age and treasured it like a keepsake. It is still beautiful - but also a little bit shabby. :) These shabby-style pot holders are, so to speak, a tribute to all grandmothers - and their love for simple, genuine things. By the way: Of course, you can also easily make your own bias tape. I show you how to do that in this tutorial.  

Note on embroidery for the shabby style pot holders

I created the embroidery with the twin needle! This is a very simple trick that I explain in detail in the accompanying tutorial.

Required material for the pot holders

27 x 27 cm floral cotton fabric for the top side (the rose fabric* by Clark & Clark is brilliant for this!) 25 x 25 cm cotton fabric for the back (I used a more neutral pattern here; polka dot fabric* also works great!) 25 x 25 cm cotton batting*  27 x 27 cm cotton batting* 2 little pieces of SnapPap* 2 eyelets* possibly some lace or ribbon 2 pieces of bias tape, 38 cm long each, sewn together along the long sides (pink-dotted* looks great!) a good 2 meters of bias tape*  Frixion pen* for marking the embroidery lines patchwork ruler* twin needle* 4 millimeter spacing Embroidery thread (I used Madeira Cotona Multicolor* and Gütermann all-purpose thread*) pins temporary adhesive spray*

Links marked with * are affiliate links: If you make a purchase through them, we receive a small commission. The price remains the same for you.

Step-by-step instructions

Sewing instructions: Shabby style pot holders

From two fabric squares, a double layer of cotton wadding and SnapPap corners, you'll sew two cosy pot holders with bias binding edging and a hanging loop in just a few steps.

Extra tip: A 25 x 25 cm template made from a cork tile won't slip while cutting and is easy to cut around with a rotary cutter.

  1. Step

    Secure the fabric and wadding

    Place the piece cut for the top and the cotton wadding with 27 cm sides on top of each other and secure both layers with temporary spray adhesive. That way nothing shifts while you stitch and there are no pins in the way.

    Secure the fabric and wadding
  2. Step

    Draw the stitching lines

    Use the Frixion pen to draw the lines you want to stitch over afterwards with the twin needle.

    Draw the stitching lines
  3. Step

    Stitch the pot holders

    Stitch both pot holders with the twin needle along the drawn lines. This stitching stabilises the pot holder and gives it a full, soft feel.

    Stitch the pot holders
  4. Step

    Cut to the final shape

    Use a second template with rounded corners to cut the pot holders into their final shape. A paper template works just as well.

    Cut to the final shape
  5. Step

    Sew on the SnapPap corners

    Trace two triangles onto SnapPap for the corner where the eyelet will go – one per pot holder. Sew the SnapPap triangles in place along the long side.

    Sew on the SnapPap corners
  6. Step

    Build the quilt sandwich

    If you like, sew on a small appliqué, lace or woven ribbon at this point. Then build the quilt sandwich:

    • At the very bottom, the backing fabric with the pretty side facing down
    • In between, the two layers of cotton wadding
    • At the very top, the stitched top fabric
    Build the quilt sandwich
  7. Step

    Finish with bias binding

    Finish the edges of both pot holders all the way round with bias binding. Start on the back and fold the bias binding under by approx. 1 cm.

    Finish with bias binding
  8. Step

    Sew the bias binding all the way round

    Sew once around the whole pot holder and let the bias binding overlap by a few centimetres before you cut it off.

    Sew the bias binding all the way round
  9. Step

    Topstitch the bias binding on the right side

    Carefully fold the bias binding around the edge and edgestitch it in place from the right side with a slightly longer straight stitch.

    Topstitch the bias binding on the right side
  10. Step

    Set the eyelet and attach the hanging loop

    Set an eyelet through the SnapPap triangle. Then pull the pieces of bias binding through the eyelet and knot them. Done!

    Set the eyelet and attach the hanging loop

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About the author

Sabine

I come from Siegen-Wittgenstein, where I spent my childhood breaking in cows, jumping off haystacks and scraping a D- in needlework class.

Today, being creative feels like indescribable happiness to me – and it grows even more when I can share it with others. Since 2016 I have been celebrating my passion for sewing on this blog, and I love that sewing connects so many people.