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| A DIY handle cover sized for a Gotham Steel square pan... |
Yes, the specificity is odd, but I figure there should be at least one other person out there with a Gotham Steel square pan needing protection from a potentially hot handle.
If that's not you — but you could use a cover for a different pot/pan handle — the concept is easy to adapt to other sizes.
This 9.5" square Gotham Steel pan was a serendipitous post-Christmas purchase. For some reason, London Drugs had them on sale for just under twenty bucks each. (The cheapest I can find them for regularly is twice that on Amazon.) This is the real deal, not a knock-off; it includes the deep fry basket, steamer rack and cover. Because the pan can be used in the oven, the handle is made out of steel.
As a result, the handle will conduct heat and hence, the need for today's project.
Google "pot handle cover pattern", click over to images and you'll be amazed by what you see. (I won't comment any further on at least one of those images, but it is somewhat funny.)
My construction method borrows off a tutorial I found at sameliasmum.com; the blogger there is a quilter who used strips of fabric to patchwork-piece her version. The handle for the Gotham square pan is so skinny that a couple of strips will do; you won't need to do any patchwork on them.
Fabrics on my handle cover are scraps left over from making two table toppers and my CD coasters.
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| Protection from a hot handle... |
Here's what you need to do this: fabric scraps, fusible fleece, quilt batting (or equivalent), and 6" of matching double folded bias binding.
By the way, if you have old potholders or oven mitts that are past their prime, they can surely be upcycled into a handle cover.
#1. Make a pattern template out of paper. Mine was 2.5" wide by 7.5" long. (If you're making this for some other pot/pan, measure the width of the handle and add 1.5" to it to arrive at the right dimensions.)
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| Round off one end of your template... |
#2. Round off one end of the template and use it to cut out two pieces of fabric and two pieces of fusible fleece; fuse together.
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| Arrange fused fabric pieces on top of batting or equivalent... |
#3. Quilt your pieces onto a piece of batting. (I don't have batting, so I used remnants from a fleece blanket that was also used for my table toppers; in a pinch you may be able to get by with another layer of fusible fleece... if your intended use of this cover is for simple protection from low temperature "heat"; see comments below for this distinction.)
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| Diagonally quilted at 1" intervals... |
#4. Cut out each piece.
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| Cut out after quilting... |
#5. Bind the straight end of each piece with double folded bias tape. (Check out my hanging file organizer tutorial if you need help attaching binding.)
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| Bind the straight end... |
#6. Place right sides together and sew all the way around with an approximate 1/4" seam allowance. Trim back the excess seam allowance to reduce bulk.
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| Sew pieces together... |
#7. Turn right side out. Press and topstitch, encasing the raw seams inside as you sew around.
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| Turn and topstitch... |
Look what happened with my unplanned piece of scrap fabric... it looks like it was fussy cut!
The fit on the handle will be snug, but that's exactly what's needed.
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| What the actual handle looks like... |
The last thing you want is for a hot pan to slip out of a loose, ill-fitting handle cover.
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| A custom fit! |
Don't know why the Gotham folks chose to put such a long handle on one side of this pan (that's been one of the knocks against it in reviews that I've read) when the larger 11" square pan sports just regular grab handles on both sides.
That said, I've been using it regularly and love how easy it is to clean up. Haven't had a reason to put it into the oven yet, but if I do, I'll have a handle cover ready for when it comes out.
Let's hear it for super simple projects that are overwhelmingly useful!
I have previously recycled old jeans into square pot holders since simple terry cloth products are a challenge to buy. The handle covers for the cast iron fry pans need this project desperately so thank you. I will go look at your "binding" tutorial.
ReplyDeleteRochelle I made a wool knit handle and felted it to use on cast iron pans. I gave the cast iron pans and the wool handles to my daughter when we stopped using the cast iron (too heavy to lift). I really like your handles, but shouldn't you have used cotton batting? Since polyester would either melt or get too hot to handle, it could burn your hand when handling a hot pan and any fusible product wouldn't be so good to get hot either.
ReplyDeleteGood point about the use of this if under high heat conditions. My intended "in oven" use would only ever be to keep something warm (i.e., at low temps), so this would suffice. But yes, if the need for protection is from actually cooking in the oven, then a recycled pot holder or cotton batting or insul bright would be the better options.
DeleteThanks for the heads up, Daryl!
FYI...The binding tutorial is unavailable using the link in the hanging folder post.
ReplyDeleteFor others who may be wondering, the binding part is covered under the "Bind & Finish" heading of that hanging file organizer tutorial.
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