A lot of scrappy potholders were made this past winter. Different ways were tried in binding the potholders. The natural way for a quilt maker was to bind like a quilt.
Finally my head decided to use the old fashion way of binding clothes when garments were made several years ago. The positive about this method gives 1 less layer of fabric for the sewing machine to pound through.
First make the LOOP for the hot pad
Start with a 1½ inch wide strip. A long strip will make several loops.
Fold in half to find the center then fold the edges to meet the center.
Put loop wherever you like.
To BIND
Cut a 1 inch wide strip. (I use a fat 1 inch.)
as long as needed or pieced to go around potholder.
Pieces to make this binding were stitched on the 45° angle.
Stitch the one layer of binding
around 1/4 inch from edge.
(I follow edge of general foot along edge of pot holder
thus the reason I use a fat 1 inch.)
Corners are folded as done for quilt binding.
A sample to show details of machine stitching around edge
1 inch strip is folding in half lengthwise, then edges folded to center.
Iron to show crease.
Stitch on first crease.
But I'm not usually happy with the backside.However, if I'm in a hurry or these are definitely more
for utility purposes and not worrying about how my skills work,
I use Georgia Bonesteel's "Fly By" method.
Said her Grandmother would ask,
"If someone flies by on a horse, would they see it?"
To hand stitch,
still use the machine to stitch the strip (first step.)
Then fold over and hand stitch instead of machine top stitching.
