How To Make Jute Kitchen Potholders

Making potholders for your kitchen was never so simple. Today we are going to make an easy and quick design for the fastest potholders you may have ever made.

This is a basic design that can easily be customised and designed in whatever way you choose.

How to choose your material and the lining

I always talk about how to choose the right material. Here it is especially essential because you need two things. A pure fabric because a cloth that is 100% pure cotton is not as flammable as nylon. All synthetic fabrics are flammable unless they were designed specifically otherwise. Secondly, it is always preferable to use a thicker material over a thin cloth. Oven mittens and potholders have a lot of wear and tear so the sturdier the cloth the better.

I’m using jute so a thick and pure fabric is not an issue today.

For the lining, you can use a number of variations. Most people use insulated batting which you can buy online from Amazon. This material is also known as fleece. If you don’t have it at home no worries. After you read this tutorial you will be able to make potholders with things already in your home.

Here is a list of different linings you could use:

  • insulated batting
  • a cotton lining
  • a fluffy cotton towel

I used a cotton lining which comes in a roll and all I have to do is cut it according to my measurements. The cotton lining is nothing fancy, it is literally just cotton wool in a roll.

How to dress up your potholders

I used a dark maroon/red cotton cloth for the piping that goes all around the the potholders. With jute a solid dark colour is the best choice simply because the contrast is eye-catching.

You can mix things up and use whatever you prefer. Because jute is a plain material using a printed fabric as a contrast would be very well suited too.

What you’ll need to make jute potholders for your kitchen

Estimated time for the potholders: 20 minutes or less.

  • jute material 1/2 yard
  • a lining of your choosing (insulated batting)
  • a strip of thick cotton cloth 1 1/2 inches wide and 33 inches long
  • scissors
  • sewing chalk
  • matching thread

Here are a few tips on how to prep your fabric before sewing. Always iron your material first. Jute does not burn with an iron and you’ll need a hot iron to get all the creases out. Ironing fabric is especially essential before you start cutting your cloth.

Below is an image of the edging that I will use for the potholders.

How to make your potholders

Cut your jute into 4, 7 by 7-inch pieces. Cut 2 squares of the lining, of your choice, to the same measurement. Now take one square of jute place it on top of a table and with a ruler make the design of your choice. Below are some images of how I did mine. There are no hard and fast rules here because you can make whichever design you like most. Making oven mittens or potholders all start with making a quilt. Simply because a single layer of any cloth would be too thin to protect you from a scalding pan.

In the image below I took a ruler and placed it first diagonally in the centre of the jute square. With your sewing chalk draw a line straight down the middle. Now draw a line on the other side of the ruler and repeat this until you cannot anymore. Replicate this on the other side too. The reason you should do centre first is that this makes your lines aligned in the finished product. Now align your ruler with the edge of the cloth and make another line with your chalk. This should make even diamond shapes on your jute.

Now place one square of jute on a table, place the square of your lining on top and then another square of jute. Iron this together before sewing so that it helps keep it in place. You should use sewing pins to pin the entire quilt together. Firstly pin the two diagonal edges. Now sew one straight line down the centre on the marking you first made with the chalk. You can remove the pins from one corner and then sew the markings on one side of the quilt. Repeat this on the other side. Once you have sewn these lines sewing the second set of straight lines will be easy. In quilting, it can be tricky to sew the lining in alignment with the cloth.

How to attach the edging

Now take the strip of cotton cloth and place on top of the quilted jute as I have in the image below. Sew one centimetre away from the edge and sew it all around the square. When you reach the end there will be about 2 1/2 inches of extra edging. Do not cut it off! Flip the edging over to the other side and fold a little cloth in (like you would do for a hem). Sew on the edging on this side as well.

Fold in the edging cloth when sewing the other side so that it becomes a straight strip. This will become the loop for the potholder. Take the strip and fold half an inch inside. Now place it on top of the edging of the potholder and sew on with your sewing machine.

There you go! Your potholders are ready.

Final thoughts

Making these were fun, quick and super easy. I hope you enjoy making them as much as I did. Remember to customise the potholders you make according to your own preferences. You can always skip the typical diamond shape and sew wavy lines down your quilt. I used a red coloured thread for the diamond shapes so that they would show more prominently. You can use a matching thread so that they are invisible. Play around and have fun with your own ideas.

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