How to Sew a Panhandle Cover

When cooking, panhandles can get and stay hot, especially if you’re cooking with cast iron cookware. Nicki LaFoille shows you how to make customized hot pads for your pan handles to protect your hands from heat.

Get Nicki’s enameled cast iron pan at Le Creuset.

Essential Supplies and Fabric Selection

Nicki discusses the fabric options and necessary supplies for the panhandle hot pads, including Velcro and insulated batting, which reflects the heat away from your hand to protect you from high heat. Insulated batting, such as Insul-Bright, is preferred for this project, as it is designed to be more heat-resistant than typical quilt batting.

Measuring and Preparing Outer Fabric, Lining, and Batting

In this video, you will learn how to measure the long panhandle to determine the size of the outer fabric, lining, and batting you require. Nicki demonstrates how to add quilting lines across the fabric to secure the batting to the outer fabric. Then, you will learn how to stitch the remainder of the hot pad, curving the upper edges to fit the curved edge of your panhandle. You will then turn the panhandle hot pad right side out and tuck the lining inside to complete the custom panhandle hot pad.

For the remaining hot pad on the opposite side of the pan, Nicki teaches you how to measure the loop handle and calculate what size fabric and batting to cut.

Attaching Batting and Stitching the Hot Pad

Nicki demonstrates how to attach the batting to the wrong side of the rectangle, then stitch and turn the hot pad right side out. Once the opening is topstitch closed, the last step is to attach Velcro to two sides of the rectangle so that it will wrap around the loop side of the panhandle.

Explore More Hot Pad Projects

Discover additional hot pad project ideas in these recommended videos:

• Quilt as You Go Hot Pad
• Dresden Plate Trivet