I picked up some vintage cocktail napkins at a craft swap this summer, and I’d been dreaming of making new hot pads ever since. I finally got my craft room all set up last week, and here’s what happened.

I started by determining a layout and piecing a patchwork square that was as large as the napkin. Next, I stitched it together. First I sewed the pieces on the second strip together, then I sewed each strip to the next strip.

This left me with a slightly wonky square, so I squared off the corners.

 Then I layered the pieces like so, starting at the bottom: 3 layers of batting (this was me being paranoid, which worked out well. In the future I’ll use insulation batting.), patchwork square (right side up), cocktail napkin (wrong side up). In between the 2 fabric layers I put the little tab in one corner (to use as a hanger. I started sewing about 2 inches from one corner, continued around the next 3 edges, then sewed about 2 inches into the first edge (leaving an opening).  I trimmed the batting and turned the whole thing inside out. Next, I handsewed the opening shut, then machine stitched the X on the mitt. Voila!

I made another, this time with an orange “shrimp cocktail” napkin.

I also made some mitts, which you can see and read about over at the Adorn blog. I love little patchwork projects. They’re a great way to use up fabric scraps, and in the case of kitchen accessories, you’ll get toadmire your handiwork (almost) every day!