Crafting with Kids - Making Hot Mats

Crafting is a way to keep children occupied that normally can be made into a family event. It can be an inexpensive way to spend a few hours having fun with your kids.

There is an old crafting idea that has been disappearing to the point that something I saw all the time when I was young is hardly ever seen in today's time...hot mats for pot and/or pans.

With a few simple items you can sit down with your children, Sunday School class or anyone interested and create something useful around the house while spending quality time. Items you will need include;

1. Cloth circles that are three (3) inches in diameter (cotton fabric works best), patterns or plain

2. Sewing needles (one for each participant),

3. Thread, color is your choice to match fabric or not,

4. Scissors (for adult use, of course)

5. One thimble for each participant

6. Old fashioned metal bottle caps (number needed depends on number of participants and project size).

I recommend either cutting the fabric in advance, using a 3 inch diameter pattern or having it cut for you. Cutting the fabric right before starting the project takes some of the fun out of actually making the hot mat. The color and design of fabric is up to you. The hot mats can be imagined kind of like a quilt...you can use plain fabrics to coincide with patterned fabrics. A hot mat could be made big enough for a wall hanging. It could be made in any shape you or the kids can imagine.

Sewing needles are sharp and can cause injury so please make sure the children participating in the project are old enough to be somewhat responsible. I would not allow a child under 6 or 7 at the youngest to work on this type of project without constant and close supervision.

Thread color depends solely on what you want to use. You can match the thread to fabric color or not. Most of the visible thread will not be easy to see so color really is not much of an issue. Heavier thread may be a good idea because sometimes kids are not as careful as we are.

Scissors are for cutting thread when needed. This would generally be a responsibility of the adult who is supervising but a responsible child could utilize the scissors with proper oversight by an adult (older children need less supervision).

Thimbles are fun for smaller kids. Pushing a needle through fabric can be more difficult at times than we would like so the thimble can take the "ouch" out of the equation.

You can find bottle caps anywhere bottled beverages are sold and it would not hurt to ask people you know to save bottle caps for a kids project. Most people would pass along a request like that in order to help collect quite a few caps from different sources. If your neighbor likes beer in a bottle, ask him to save the caps for you. If there is a restaurant or bar that serves bottled drinks, ask them if they will part with the caps...they throw them away otherwise so you would also be recycling. If any of the bottle caps are slightly bent from being taken off the bottle, carefully bend back so that the tops are flat.

Making a hot mat is really simple...think quilt.

Thread your needle. Place a bottle cap (top side down) in the center of a 3 inch fabric circle. Pull the edges of the fabric up and around the bottle cap and hold it while sewing it around the entire bottle cap. Pull the thread taut until the fabric gathers like a drawstring. Sew the fabric together across the hole and pull the thread taught. Knot the thread and cut off the excess. If done correctly you will have a perfectly covered bottle cap. Repeat the process for each bottle cap.

When all of the bottle caps are covered, the only thing left to do is to sew them together. Turn the covered bottle caps right side up and decide how you want to arrange them. Once it is decided how to arrange them for the finished hot mat, turn each cap over in order to sew them together. Sew the caps together, one at a time, where the sides would touch until all caps are used, cutting of excess thread for each cap.

Once all the sides are sewn together, flip it over and you have a brand new hot mat for your pots that need to come off of the stove or the pans coming out of the oven! If you would like, you could cover the bottom with felt or cardboard but it is not necessary.

This type of project can interest kids in sewing and creating useful things to use where they live. Quality time between children and parents can be useful and fun at the same time. A project like this can also give children a sense of pride for what they are able to create.