Making Potholders & Oven Mitts the Easy Way

I finally wrapped up one of my winter sewing projects!  I made several oven mitts and potholders for myself and friends.  The fabric used for this project were leftover scraps from previous projects.  

When looking for batting, I was excited to see the Pellon brand with the "Made in the USA" label!

When selecting batting, you have many types to choose from, including batting with heat resistant foil.  The foil batting can't be put in the microwave, and not knowing what my users will do with their mitts and holders, I used the 100% batting without foil.  For $14.00 I made 6 mitts and 4 holders with some batting leftover.  

The starting dimension of the potholder was 7.5 inches square.  Three pieces of batting were used for each potholder.  I made a pair with only two pieces of batting but thought they were too thin. 

Adding a design is completely optional but I enjoy hand aplique so I added the cherries and grape cluster.  When adding the design, attach one layer of batting to the fabric so the designs are anchored really well.  If you don't add a design, you can sew diagonal lines like I did for the oven mitts (shown below).

I absolutely love how the cherries turned out!

Looking back I should have added a vine tendril to the grape cluster. 

For the binding, I cut the strips 2.75 inches wide.  This is my second attempt at putting on binding, but this video explains the process.  I used a zig-zag stitch to secure the binding.  

Finished!

OVEN MITTS:

For the oven mitts, I made a pattern by tracing an oven mitt that I already had and added about an inch around the perimeter to account for the seam.

For one oven mitt, I cut four pieces of fabric because two of the pieces will be the lining for the inside of the mitt.  You don't have to use the same fabric for the lining.

Four pieces of batting were also cut out.  Two pieces for each side of the mitt.

To assemble the mitt, see picture above.   There are four layers of fabric for each half of the mitt.

To secure all four pieces of fabric, sew diagonal lines 1.5 inches apart.  I used a washable fabric marker to mark my lines for sewing.

When both halves of the mitt are sewed, trim the edges.

For the binding at the bottom of each half, I cut two strips, 2.5 inches wide and 6.5 inches long.  The width of my oven mitts at the bottom are 6 inches but I add an additional half inch for wiggle room.

For each binding strip, with wrong sides together, iron in half.

Then open it up and bring one side to the center fold and iron, 

and then fold the other side to the middle and iron.

Put the binding on the mitt and sew.

With right sides together, face both oven mitt haves together and sew about 1/4 inch in from the sides.  At this point you are sewing 8 layers together.

If you turn the mitt inside out, there will be a lot of puckering around the thumb.  To alleviate this, trim the excess in the thumb area really close to the stitching.  To reinforce the stitching, it's a good idea to sew the thumb area a few times.  Trimming the excess around the entire mitt is a good idea to reduce the bulk.

Here are two finished oven mitts ready for gifts!  I didn't add the little hanger loop at the base of the mitt but that's an additional detail you can choose to add.