Feb
When I Actually Made These Things
So last spring, like April 2023 I think, I had all these random terracotta pots sitting on my kitchen windowsill and they looked so boring. My cat kept knocking them over too which was annoying but that’s another issue. I decided to make some covers because I’d seen them on Instagram and thought how hard could it be, right?
The thing is you don’t really need a fancy pattern for this. I used some Red Heart Super Saver in that sage green color because I had like three skeins left from another project, and honestly it worked fine. The yarn is scratchy but for a pot cover who cares.
Basic Approach For Small Pots
You’re basically making a cylinder. Chain enough to wrap around the widest part of your pot – for me that was like 40 chains for a 4-inch pot but you gotta measure yours. Join it into a ring with a slip stitch, then just single crochet around and around until it’s tall enough to cover however much of the pot you want.
I did mine in the back loops only because it gives that ribbed texture which hides the fact that my tension is inconsistent. If you do regular single crochet it’ll be smoother but you’ll see every mistake.
The Bottom Part That Nobody Tells You About
Here’s what annoyed me SO much – the bottom. Do you make a bottom or not? I tried it with a closed bottom first, like starting with a magic ring and working outward in a circle, then doing the sides. But then the pot sits IN the cover and water gets trapped if you overwater your plants. Which I do constantly.
So I ripped that out and just made tubes with open bottoms. The pot sits through the cover and rests on whatever surface. Way better. You can also make little handles if you want by chaining like 10 and skipping stitches, but I never bother.
Medium Sized Pots Are Different
For bigger pots like 6-inch ones I used Lion Brand Jeans yarn in that cream color. It’s a little nicer than Red Heart and has more structure. You need structure for bigger covers or they just sag and look sad.
Start the same way but here’s the thing – most pots are wider at the top than the bottom. So if you just make a straight tube it’s gonna be loose at the bottom and tight at the top or vice versa. You need to increase as you go up.
I did increases every 4th or 5th round, just evenly spaced. Like if you have 60 stitches, add 6 stitches that round. It doesn’t have to be perfect because the yarn stretches anyway. This is where working in the round gets annoying because you have to keep track of where your rounds start and I always lose my stitch marker.
The Taper Problem
Some terracotta pots have that classic shape where they curve out at the rim. Those are actually easier because you can just increase more aggressively in the last few rounds and the fabric naturally flares out. I was watching The Bear while making one of these and I got so distracted during that freezer episode that I added way too many increases and it looked like a tutu. Had to frog back like 8 rounds.
Hanging Planters Which Are Trickier
Okay so summer 2024 I got really into hanging plants and wanted to make covers for those plastic pots that come with hanging baskets. These are annoying because the pot is suspended so the cover needs to either grip really tight or you need to incorporate the hanger somehow.
What worked for me was making a cover that’s slightly smaller than the pot measurement so it stretches over and grips. Use single crochet in both loops for this, not back loop only, because you need the fabric to be tight and not stretchy.
I used Lily Sugar’n Cream cotton yarn for these because cotton doesn’t stretch as much as acrylic. The pot stays put better. Also cotton is good for plant areas because it doesn’t get weird if it gets wet from watering spills.
Adding Actual Straps
Or you can crochet straps right into the cover. When you’re doing your last round, chain like 30 stitches at four evenly spaced points around the rim, skip the same number of stitches on the rim, then continue. Those chains become loops that you can thread the existing plastic hanger through, or you can braid them together at the top to make your own hanger.
I tried this exactly once and the pot fell down two days later so… maybe reinforce those chains by going back through them with another round of slip stitches or something. I didn’t bother remaking it because that plant died anyway.
Decorative Stuff If You’re Into That
You can add stripes by changing colors every few rounds. Just drop the old color and pick up the new one, carrying the unused color up the inside of the work. With pot covers nobody sees the inside so it doesn’t matter if it looks messy.
I made one with Caron Simply Soft in like three different shades of blue and it looked okay. That yarn is really soft and nice to work with but maybe too drapey for this purpose – the cover didn’t hold its shape great.
Some people do granny squares and then seam them into a tube shape but that seems like way more work than just crocheting in the round. I guess if you have a bunch of squares already made from other projects you could use those up.
Texture Stitches
Half double crochet works up faster than single crochet if you’re impatient like me. It makes a slightly looser fabric though. Double crochet is too loose and holey for this unless you want that look specifically.
You can also do shell stitches or bobbles or whatever. I did bobbles once and honestly it just looked lumpy, not cute. But the moss stitch (single crochet and chain 1 alternating) looks pretty good and adds texture without being too extra.
Sizing Issues Nobody Warns You About
Here’s something dumb – I made like four covers in different sizes and then rearranged my plants and none of the covers fit the pots in their new locations. So maybe don’t make a bunch all at once? Or measure all your pots first and keep notes.
Also yarn stretches over time, especially acrylic. That sage green Red Heart cover I made in April 2023 is now kind of loose and slides around. I should probably wash it and see if it shrinks back but I haven’t gotten around to it.
Washing These Things
They get dusty and dirty from the plants. I just throw them in a lingerie bag and wash on gentle with my regular laundry. Air dry though because the dryer will shrink them or melt acrylic if it gets too hot. Cotton ones can probably handle the dryer but why risk it.
Weird Pot Shapes
I have this one ceramic pot that’s like… square? Rectangular? For that I just chained a long foundation, didn’t join it into a ring, and worked back and forth in rows to make a flat panel. Then I seamed the short ends together to make a tube. It’s not as stretchy as working in the round so measure carefully.
For square pots you could technically do actual squares with corners but that’s beyond my skill level honestly. The tube method works fine even if it’s not perfectly fitted.
Using Up Scraps
Pot covers are good for using random leftover yarn. I had all these partial skeins of Bernat Blanket yarn which is way too thick for most projects, but I made a chunky cover for a big floor planter and it worked up in like an hour. Super bulky yarn with a big hook (I used a size N) goes so fast.
You can also do stripes with different yarn weights if you adjust your hook size, though that’s probably gonna look weird. I haven’t tried it but theoretically it could work.
The worst is when you run out of yarn like 3 rounds before finishing and you have to decide whether to frog back and make it shorter or add a different color at the end. I usually just add a different color and call it a design choice.
