How to Make Ghostly Hot Pads

Learn how to make adorable Ghostly Hot Pads in this step-by-step tutorial with Tammy at Shabby Fabrics! Designed by Joyce Minnis, this fun Halloween quilting project features the Frank and Friends fabric collection by Riley Blake Designs, pre-fused laser-cut eyes, and Insul-Bright for heat-resistant functionality.

In this video, you'll learn:

• How to layer and quilt a simple grid before you cut a single piece.
• How to fuse pre-cut laser applique eyes with an iron.
• How to cut and sew bias binding around a tight curve.
• How to assemble, trim, and turn a curved shape right side out.
• The needle and pin choices that make sewing through many layers easier.

WHAT YOU'LL NEED

From your kit

• Pattern with the ghost template
• Fabric for the ghost front and back, lining, and binding
• Pre-fused, laser-cut eyes, two sets
• Insul-Bright

From your sewing room

• Acrylic ghost template, or the paper template included in your pattern.
• Frixion Clicker Pen for making marks that disappear with heat.
• Clover Water Soluble Pencils that work well for dark fabrics and easily wipe off with water.
• Creative Grids 2.5" x 24.5" Quilt Ruler #CGR224 for drawing your quilting grid.
• Cotton batting. Leftover scraps work beautifully, or the smallest Halo Batting from Shabby Fabrics is a crib size.
• Heat-Resistant Cool Pins by The Gypsy Quilter for iron-safe pinning
• Dark gray thread for quilting
• Iron and pressing surface
• Karen Kay Buckley Scissors for accurate cuts
• Rotary cutter and fresh blade. Starting each project with a fresh blade is a recipe for success.
• Ruler with a 45 degree mark, for cutting bias binding
• Clover Wonder Clips - indispensable for keeping pieces in place.
• Size 90 Schmetz Super Nonstick Needles, or a size 100 denim needle
• Clover Point 2 Point Turner - perfect for pushing narrow spots right side out

STEP 1: QUILT THE FRONT

Start with your ghost front and back fabric, and your lining. This project uses that lining on the inside with the ghost fabric on the front and back, and a coordinating check for the binding.

1. Using a long ruler, draw a grid corner to corner with a Frixion pen, then slide over (2) inches and draw the next line. This gives you a 2" grid.
2. Layer your lining, Insul-Bright, and a piece of cotton batting, then top with your ghost front fabric to build a quilt sandwich.
3. Pin the outside edges with Clover Wonder Clips.
4. Sew corner to corner along your drawn lines with dark gray thread.
5. Press to remove the marks you made with your Frixion Clicker Pen once quilting is complete.

A crib-size batting scrap goes a long way on this project. This project doesn't need much batting, so leftover pieces from quilts or wall hangings work perfectly. The smallest Halo Batting from Shabby Fabrics, a crib size, is more than enough for several of these.

STEP 2: TRACE AND CUT THE GHOST

1. Position your acrylic template on the quilted front, hold it steady, and trace around it with a Frixion pen.
2. Trace the eye socket markings as well, so you know exactly where to place the eyes.

An acrylic template is easier to trace around than a paper one. Rather than pinning a paper template in place or transferring it to cardboard first, an acrylic template can simply be traced directly. Either one from your pattern works, this is a matter of preference.

STEP 3: FUSE THE EYES

1. Turn each laser-cut eye shape to the back and crease the paper. It releases instantly from the shiny side.
2. Position both eyes within the traced sockets.
3. Set your iron to medium heat, not linen or cotton, since this is heat and bond light.
4. Hold the iron in place, without moving it, for about 6 to 7 seconds. Keep it just below your Frixion line so you don't set that mark permanently.

STEP 4: APPLIQUE AND CUT OUT THE GHOST

1. Sew a narrow zigzag stitch all the way around the outline of the ghost, right next to your traced line.
2. Applique the eyes now, before cutting the ghost out.
3. Cut the ghost out, right next to your zigzag stitching.

Karen Kay Buckley scissors, with their serrated edge and comfortable handles, make quick work of cutting right along the zigzag.

STEP 5: CUT AND PREPARE THE BINDING

The curved bottom edge of the ghost needs bias binding, which has the stretch a straight-cut strip doesn't.

1. Using the 45 degree mark on your ruler, position it at the bottom corner of your binding fabric and make a 45 degree cut with a rotary cutter.
2. Cut 2.5" strips on that same angle.
3. Cut four strips total, since each ghost needs one for the front and one for the back.
4. Fold each strip in half wrong sides together and press, the same as regular binding. No piecing is needed for a project this size.

STEP 6: SEW THE BINDING ON

This binding goes on only along the curved bottom edge.

1. Lay the binding at an angle to start, and sew a small back tack to secure it.
2. Sew slowly, keeping a consistent .25" seam. A quarter-inch presser foot makes this easier to judge.
3. Approaching the curve, stop with the needle down, pivot the binding to match the edge, then pivot the project itself so you stay at .25".
4. Continue around the curve in small pivots, stopping and checking your alignment often.
5. At the end, trim the tails even.

Give yourself generous tails at the start and end. It's much easier to trim away extra binding than to come up short partway around a curve. Starting with more binding than you think you need, and letting it run long at the end, is the safer approach every time. This is not a fast process, and that's fine. Sewing binding around a tight curve means stopping, pivoting, and checking often. That patience is what keeps the binding smooth against the edge instead of puckered.

STEP 7: CLIP AND STITCH THE BINDING DOWN

1. Fold the binding to the back and secure it with Wonder Clips, positioning each clip so the flat side faces up.
2. Check that the binding fully covers your stitch line on the back, since that's the line you'll follow when stitching in the ditch from the front.
3. Stitch the binding down, removing clips as you go, sewing right next to the folded edge.
4. Switch to a zigzag foot and trim the binding ends even before finishing them with a narrow zigzag, so no raw edge is left inside the seam allowance.

Position each clip with the flat side up. The rounded side of a Wonder Clip can catch on your feed dogs as it passes under the machine. Flipping the clips so the flat side faces the bed keeps everything sliding smoothly.

STEP 8: ASSEMBLE FRONT AND BACK

The back is identical to the front, minus the eyes, so it's easy to tell them apart once binding is on both.

1. Position the acrylic template back on the front piece, inside your existing zigzag stitching, and redraw the sewing line with a Frixion pen. This becomes your seam line for joining the two halves.
2. Place the front and back right sides together, matching up the shape carefully.
3. Pin generously with Cool Pins, which are heftier and made to go through several layers.
4. Fit a size 90 super nonstick needle, or a size 100 denim needle, since you're sewing through two layers of Insul-Bright, two layers of batting, and four layers of fabric.
5. Sew all the way around on your drawn line.

A larger needle earns its keep on a project this thick. A standard size 80 topstitch needle is the usual choice for most sewing, but with this many layers stacked together, a size 90 nonstick or a size 100 denim needle glides through far more cleanly.

STEP 9: TRIM, CLIP, AND TRIM

1. Trim the seam allowance down, grading it slightly around the curves to reduce bulk.
2. Cut small V notches into the seam allowance around the curves, being careful not to cut through the stitch line. Cutting through the zigzag underneath is fine.
3. Turn the ghost right side out through the opening, using a point turner to work the fingers and head fully out.

Clipping V notches is what lets a curve turn smoothly. Without them, the seam allowance bunches up and fights you on every curved edge. A few small, careful clips solve it completely.

The spatula end of a point turner works well up into narrow spots like arms, while the flat end run along a seam helps pull the seam allowance fully out for a crisp edge.

FINISHING

Give the ghost a light press to set the seam allowance, and it's ready to use.

These come together quickly enough that it's easy to end up making one for everybody on your list!