Re: Pot Holders & Hot Pads

Quite a few years ago, I made a bunch of hot pads. I used mulling spice in them. Smelled really good for several years.

What sort of batting would you use to make some pot holders? This sounds like a nice Christmas gift!!!

Thanks,

Judie>

A friend of mine made some of these with fabric printed with apples. She used cinnamon. They were a great 'hit'. If your question meant what did she use to put the spices in ie fabric, I'm afraid I don't know, but I should think it was muslin. . In article , Sherry Starr writes

Hullo Judie When you are making pot holders and placemats etc, it is best to use cotton batting rather than polyester. If you had some wool batting scraps, that would be fine too. Polyester is not good for shielding against heat. . In article , Judie Luisi writes

I put four layers of cotton batting-- mybe threee would do! Gerry

I made potholders that had a flap on the back like an envelope. Inside I put a removable bag with the crushed cinnamon sticks. The bag could be removeable for washing. Thought that was a practical approach.

Susan

Warm and Natural has just come out with a new product called Insul-Bright - it reflects either hot or cold back to its source. It is three layers - one of polyester fibers, the next a reflective mylar, and another layer of polyester. I'm in the process of making a portable ironing mat using the Insul-Bright to carry to classes with me. The package says it's good for pot holders, table pads, oven mitts, casserole covers, etc., etc.

For the ironing mat we used one layer of Warm & Natural and two layers of the Insul-Bright. I'm also planning to make a little carrier for my mini-iron using the Insul-Bright. One of the ladies who took the class (I took the class at my Viking dealer), is going to make one of the little carriers for a baby bottle.

The pkg even suggest using the Insul-Bright to make a stadium cushion. Wish I would have had this stuff when our grandson was living with us and we were going to this football games. The bleachers at his school are made from cement - REALLY COLD to sit on in November!

NAYY - just think it's a neat product.

I really like this idea, Donna (of making portable ironing mats). It would be a great gift for my quilting "sisters" for Christmas. What size do you make the mats, and how do you finish them - with binding? Or do you "birth" them? It would be great to include some ties on the end so that it could be rolled up to stash in a tote!

-JoyceG in WA

Donna in Idaho had this to say:

We made our ironing mats approximatly 17" x 30". We used webbing for handles and also put bias tape ties on each side so it wouldn't gap open when you're carrying it to class. We bound it with extra wide double fold bias tape. You could make your own binding, too. But, since I was getting ready for a class and wasn't sure from the supply list how thick it would be, I used bias tape (I prefer making my own binding). The instructions said to use striped fabric for the inside of the mat (so you could line up strips or whatever straight. However, I couldn't find one single piece of striped fabric in my stash that the stripes were straight on grain. If I would have tried to use any of them as a straight guide, whatever I was ironing would have been really crooked.

Your idea of ties and rolling sounds just as good or better than the handles we but on ours. I plan on making some of the little iron carriers for Xmas presents for friends that use curling irons.

I got it at the Oz version of TSWLTH aka Spotlight. Sorry I don't know of an online source, someone else might though.