DIY Football Pot Holder

The SuperBowl is right around the corner – what’s your game plan??

I’m Mandy from the super-cool blog, Sugar Bee Crafts. I have a cute (and functional!) DIY project for you today – it’s a sewing craft, so it is a perfect, simple project for you that had “learn to sew” as a new goal for 2014. Isn’t this DIY Football Pot Holder awesome?!

We host a big get-together every year for the big game.

Mostly it’s an excuse to get together and eat lots of yummy things. Whether you’re hosting a potluck or heading out to one, you’re going to need some pot holders to help transport your goodies. Wow the crowd with some football-themed ones!

If you’re intimidated by sewing, this is a great project – it’s small and simple and tries several different techniques. Let’s get started….

You’ll Need:

Scrap of brown fabric (size of your pot holder x2, one for each side)
Scrap of white fabric (for laces detail)
Heat ‘n Bond, Wonder Under, etc (see below for details)
Insul-bright – this is special batting (the poofy stuff in quilts) that has a heat-protective layer (there’s a layer that looks like foil built in) which makes it great for pot holders/ hot pads

First, draw a football (or find a template online – I can’t draw!!) and cut it out to use as your pattern. Cut 2 pieces of the brown out of the main shape. Also cut 2 pieces of Insul-bright, slightly larger than the main shape.

Then iron Heat n’ Bond/ Wonder Under to the back of the white fabric. It is a product that will make your white fabric fusible. Iron it to the back (bumpy side against the fabric) and then peel off the paper backing. The “bumps” will stay on your fabric. It’s a “glue” that will stick the while to the brown later on.

Then cut out and the laces and ball details from the white fabric.

The next step is to start sewing.

Take one side and one piece of batting, and quilt them together. Don’t worry if you’ve never quilted! Quilting is just sewing layers together. It’s great to practice stitching.

Sew with the right side of the fabric up and the batting underneath. You can get fancy and sew loops (just drop your “feed dogs” and move the fabric back and forth).

Or if that’s too intimidating, just sew normal straight lines over and over, like this:

Cut away the batting that may have shifted and sticks out from under the fabric:

Tp create the laces the white fabric into the correct spot, with the bump backside down and simply iron it into place. The heat will melt the glue of the Heat n Bond and adhere the fabric.

It is strong enough to leave without sewing, but I think sewing adds a nice finished detail, so I suggest top stitching (that simply means sewing on top) all around the white fabric edge:

Almost done! Take each side of the football and sew them together along the edge, with right sides facing each other and the batting sides out:

Be sure to leave an opening unsewn, about 3-4 inches:

To prepare to turn your football right-side out, make small clips all the way around the edge and cut the excess fabric from each tip of the football. Then turn it right-side out and top stitch around the edge. This will sew shut the hole you had left open to turn it.