Sewing Tutorial: Charming Trivet

 Have a pack of charm squares and need a project? Here's a way to use six of them to make a little trivet to protect tabletops from hot serving pans.

Three charm squares per side

SUPPLIES

6 charm squares
Batting
Insul-brite
Cutting tools: ruler, rotary cutter, cutting board, and iron

For this trivet, I have two sets of three matching squares

DIRECTIONS

Cut four of the charm squares in half diagonally, making eight right triangles.

One side will have the US flag in the center with the stars on the edge,
and the other the reverse

Now cut the triangles to fit against the uncut charm square: center the right angle on your cutting mat and trim so that the hypotenuse (opposite the right angle) is five inches long. You'll be cutting about an inch off the smaller angles of the triangles.

Does that make sense? Like in the picture.

And cut half an inch off the hypotenuse. Repeat these steps for all eight triangles.

Three inches tall, five inches long at the widest part

    
Now sew four triangles to each side of the two remaining charm squares, right sides together.

I have my needle in the default position, and the fabric lined up with the foot.

Iron both sides flat.

And of course, square up the sides if needed.

Layer the two pieces with the batting and Insul-brite: both pieces of fabric right sides together, then batting, then Insul-brite.

Or Insul-brite then batting; doesn't matter

Stitch around the edges, leaving room for turning. Flip right side out, iron, then top stitch.

Stitch along the seams too; it holds the layers together better and looks nice.

Trim any loose threads, give it another press, and you're all set!