Putting together this project was kind of a lucky break for me 😀 At my house we’re in desperate need of some more potholders, particularly because I do a lot of baking and cooking and somehow the ones I have always end up disappearing! I had some extra scraps of terry cloth and seeing the colors I had to choose from – white and pastel shades of pink, blue, and green – the boyfriend commented on how much they looked like Yoshi eggs, so it was an easy choice from there! They’re essentially dinosaur eggs, so if you’re not familiar with Yoshi you can just think of them like that ^-^ The egg shape makes it ideal for giving your hand a nice wide area to grip the potholder with, and the pocket on the back is helpful for keeping it on your hand. I know most potholder patterns include a loop for hanging, but I never use those so I kept them off of mine. I hope you agree that the finished egg looks just like it came out of the Mario games 😀
Difficulty:
The hardest part is likely working with bias tape, which can be a little tricky if you’re not familiar
Makes one 7 1/2” x 9 1/2” potholder
Materials & Tools:
• 1/4 yd. of terrycloth for main egg color (quilting cotton would also work, but be sure to use more layers of batting in the middle for heat protection)
• 1/8 yd. or 7” x 7” scrap of terrycloth for spots (quilting cotton would also work)
• 7” x 7” scrap of lightweight fusible web
• 1/4 yd. of insulated batting or cotton quilt batting
• 1 yd. of black bias binding (that finishes at 3/8” wide)
• Matching sewing thread
• Basic sewing tools (sewing machine, scissors, iron, needles, pins, fabric marker, seam ripper)
Before you begin:
1. Print out the project pattern here
2. Lay out the pattern pieces on your fabric and batting and cut them out
3. Mark the fabric pieces with the markings from the pattern
1. Start off by applying the spots to the egg. Trace the spot outlines onto your fusible web, iron the fusible web to your appliqué fabric, cut out the shapes, then iron the shapes to what will be the front of your potholder. Once all the spots are ironed on, you can then layer the egg with the remaining terrycloth piece and the batting in between. Terrycloth doesn’t really have a right or wrong side, so if you’re using quilting cotton, make sure the right sides are facing out and you’ll probably want to use an extra layer or two of cotton batting in the middle for the best heat protection.
2. While all the layers are together, sew around the edges of your appliqué spots. For terrycloth, a wide zigzag is probably best as it will cover up the raw edges of the fabric.
3. With the spots all in place and the layers held together somewhat, baste around the entire egg to make sure those three layers act as one. Be sure to do it no more than 1/4” from the edge.
4. Next up is the pocket. For this, simply put your two pocket layers together and sew them along the straight top edge. When finished, flip the pocket over and iron the seam flat. If you’re using quilting cotton here, consider adding another layer of quilt batting for heat protection.
5. Now baste the pocket to the back of your egg (the side with no spots) around the sides and bottom. Leave the top free to complete the pocket!
6. All that’s left to do is bind all the edges, which takes a few steps. I used a French fold binding that I made myself (if you go this route, make it 3 1/4” wide, then fold it in half with wrong sides together), but you can use purchased bias binding as well as the materials list states. The goal is to sew it around the perimeter of the egg. However, when you start, be sure to leave 3” or so extension at the top. After that, line up the raw edge of the tape with your egg and go all the way around, stopping about 4” before you reach the end (there are marks on the pattern to give you an idea). The stretchiness of the bias should help you get around the curves easier.
7. When you reach the end, the leftover bias tape should overlap in the middle. Trim down the tape so the ends only overlap by about 1 1/2”. Open up one end of the bias tape and fold under the short edge by 1/2”.
8. Tuck the raw end of the bias tape into the folded edge. Now fold the width of the bias tape back to how it was before. Adjust the tape so it lies flat against the remaining section of the egg that isn’t sewn.
9. Now go back and sew the one part of the egg that doesn’t have tape attached. Altogether the egg should look like this.
10. Wrap the binding around the edge of the potholder so the folded edge comes to the back. The folded edge should just cover the previous seam. Pin it in place and iron the tape flat.
11. With the tape all pinned in place, you can now sew it in place. Sew around the seam from step 6 to catch the fold on the other side. As an insurance policy, it helps to use a zigzag stitch to cover more surface area and be sure you catch the other side. You may also want to check on the other side once in a while to be sure the folded edge is being sewn down.
That’s it! Enjoy your new potholder! I hope it gives your home a slightly more video game-y feel as it did mine :B
If you do try making the project, I’d love to see it! Send me a photo and I’ll send you exclusive free patterns as a reward!
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1 thought on “Freebie Friday! Yoshi Egg Potholders”
many thanks for this nice tutorial 🙂 I really love it !