Cast Iron Skillet Pot Holder: Handle

So a few months ago, a friend of mine declared that she really only uses cast iron for all of her cooking. ????? Is this a thing, I wondered???

Cast Iron seemed to scary to me….non-stick teflon pans just seemed easier to use. I asked a few questions and she told me that cooking with cast iron was actually very easy. Once the cast iron is seasoned, it is almost (not quite) non-stick.

One of the great benefits is that instead of crossing your fingers and hoping that no teflon comes off in your food, cast iron actually imparts small amounts of iron into our food. As I am anemic, this was super interesting to me. The trade-off for using cast iron is that if not properly cared for, it does get rusty. The rust is totally removable, but it is not ***quite*** as convenient as using a non-stick pan.

The other irritating thing is that for some reason, I’ve lost ALL of my pot holders over the years and the handles of cast iron skillets get very hot!! On one hand is nice because the skillets can go from the stove top to the oven, (insert amazing frittata recipe here!), but on the other hand….one needs a special handle pot holder for convenience sake. I NEEDED ONE OF THESE!!! I’ve eyed a few on etsy, but I figured I could possibly make one myself….and here is the result!

What you will need:

1 or 2 fabrics- cotton is best, since it will not melt with the heat. One for the outside, and one of for the inside of your pot holder.
heat-resistant batting (i found mine in the sewing section of walmart.
scissors
your cast iron pan to create a template
sewing machine
parchment paper for template

What to do:

Get your Cast Iron pan and draw a rectangle around the handle onto your parchment paper.
Double the width of your template, and create a rectangle that will be big enough to fold over, with 1/2 inch extra on each side.
Cut out rectangles of 2 pieces of fabric and heat-resistant batting.
Layer 2 fabrics, ****right sides together**** , then the batting on top of the fabric you want on the outside of your pot holder.

5. Sew down 1 edge of your fabrics, trim seem, then open the 2 fabrics an iron seam open.

6. Fold in half long ways and put rights sides together.

7. Sew the side with the batting, starting with the folded edge and curving around the top of your outer fabric, then straight down the edge, creating a long tube with an opening on the short edge of the inside fabric.