DIY Pot Protectors Tutorial

Do you nest your pots, pans and/or mixing bowls? How do you prevent the exteriors of the smaller ones from damaging the interiors of the larger ones? In this post I’m going to explain how I sewed two sizes of pot protectors.

I was inspired by the vinyl pot protectors tutorial by Jenn of Build Basic. She used vinyl placemats to create her pot protectors:DIY Pot And Pan Protectors. I don’t have vinyl placements, but I do have lots of fabric.

Note this project is for personal use only.

Step 0 Create templates

I used the templates from Build-Basic [PRINTABLE-Pot-and-Pan-Protector-Template] for my small pot protectors. For my large pot protectors, I drew a 13” diameter circle on a piece of paper, divided it into 6 equal parts, and drew 6 equally spaced, 3” wide “spokes”.

Asterisk shaped paper templates for large & small pot protectors on a green cutting mat — Large & small paper templates

For each small pot protector you will need 11” by 20” of fabric and 10” by 19” of fusible fleece. If you cut carefully, you can make two small pot protectors from a fat quarter. For each large pot protector you will need 14” by 25” of fabric and 13” by 24” of fusible fleece.

Step 1 Cut your materials

I used the templates to cut out 2 asterisk shaped pieces of fusible fleece for each pot protector. I’m using two layers of fusible fleece per pot protector to increase the thickness.

Fusible fleece for small and large pot protectors — Use templates to cut 2 pieces of fusible fleece per pot protector

Next I cut two asterisk shaped pieces of cotton fabric that were a 1/4” larger than the fusible fleece pieces on all sides.

Fusible fleece on top of cut fabric — Cut fabric 1/4″ larger than fusible fleece

Step 2 Fuse

I centered each piece of fusible fleece on the wrong side of piece of fabric and fused them together. Make sure to follow the directions for your fusible fleece regarding which side up, time and temperature.

2 fabric asterisks with fusible fleece attached — Fuse the fusible fleece in place

Step 3 Sew

Sew the perimeter of each protector with a 1/4” seam allowance, making sure to leave a turning gap. I left my turning gaps along one of the long edges.

Step 4 Turn and Press

I clipped the corners and trimmed the seam allowance to 1/8” along the perimeter. I left the seam allowance at 1/4” at the turning gap. Pulling the “leg” opposite from the turning gap through first worked best for me.

Step 5 Top stitch

I top stitched the perimeter with a 1/8”seam allowance.

That’s it! There are only five steps.

Here are some photos of my finished DIY Pot Protectors:

matching set of 1 large & 2 small pot protectors on a green cutting mat — Completed Pot & Pan Protector set

Pot protectors in use — Small pot protectors in stainless steel mixing bowls & large pot protector in 10″ frying pan

Two nested 10" frying pans separated by a large pot protector — Separating two 10″ frying pan with a large pot protector

I enjoy making practical things and this project is no exception. I use my large pot protector to separate my two 10” frying pans from each other. and my small pot protectors to separate my three stainless steel mixing bowls. A matching set of protectors would make a great gift and it’s a great way to use use larger fabric scraps.

Do you use pot and pan protectors? Do you have a comment about this tutorial? Comment below and/or Pin me for later!

Tanya

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