tutorial: quick mittens
It’s still pretty cold out here. I had this idea in the fall, and it has served us well over the winter so far. Being fundamentally a lazy person whose knitting is marginal but loves felt and likes to keep her hands toasty, this is the best, fastest, and pretty economical way for me to whip up a pair of mittens.
Find a felted sweater (or felt one yourself). The ones that are the best for mittens probably started their lives as big mens’ sweaters. What you’re looking for is a wrist cuff that fits comfortably and snug around your wrist after it has been felted. Put your hand in the wrong way in to see that it fits and that there’s enough wiggle room for your fingers. I’m using a felted alpaca sweater (sooooo soft!). Also very important: find a small helper to complete important tasks such as measuring the fabric and other random objects in the house.
Place your hand on the sweater and trace around just the top with some tailor’s chalk. This way the sides of the mittens will already be done because you are using the existing seam and side. Then cut out, about 1/2″ from your trace line.
Using a straight stitch and loose tension (and a walking foot if you’ve got one), make a seam, following just on the outside of your trace line. Then turn the mitten inside out and test for comfort. You can see that I made an adjustment for around my thumb.
Trim. No need to finish the edge! Make sure to round out the thumb to avoid getting a pointy-thumb :-) Turn inside out and ta-da! Embellish, if you wish. If you don’t, the whole project will probably take you all of ten minutes!
It’s also useful to make one pair that is really soft for a liner and make a slightly larger pair out of more dense wool felt for the outside. Then they’re extra warm even on a windy day and they dry faster after outside fun.
[Note: They're also perfect for drinking hot chocolate whilst contemplating the still very much dormant garden]
About the author: Marnie is always interested in creative, beautiful, economical and sustainable ways to fill everyday needs. Marnie is a crafter working from her home. her favourite medium is fulled wool sweaters, her favourite assistant is her beautiful daughter Safiya, and her favourite topics are sustainable living and anything having to do with good food. You can find her writing on craft, mothering, figuring things out, and her attempts to live a more sustainable life in urban Toronto at her blog: girl number twenty.
February 8th, 2008 at 8:58 pm
very cute idea….and a great way to refashion an old sweater!
February 9th, 2008 at 4:38 am
Yay, Marnie!! Aren’t you clever- what a great idea!!
February 13th, 2008 at 10:25 am
Fantastic. My DH has lots of old jackets that can be used for this!
February 17th, 2008 at 8:38 am
[...] new collection [ via ] ♥ christina sitjo rubio’s compelling artwork ♥ super-duper quick mittens to make and keep your fingers warm! ♥ a lovely, new design/art/lifestyle blog ♥ clever patchwork-lid sewing [...]
November 25th, 2008 at 10:56 am
I just love your quick mittens posting. I am writing to ask your permission
to post your mitten making instructions and pictures on my organizations
forum. Soldiers’ Angels supports our men and women in uniform wherever
we fly our nation’s American flag. We support and provide assistance
where we can globally to orphanages and children in need.
Your gloriious mitten design would be perfect for our members to create
and ship overseas to needy children.
Thank you!
Caren Vink, Vice President, Soldiers’ Angels http://www.soldiersangels.org
July 12th, 2009 at 10:20 pm
[...] felted mittens in minutes by recycling an old men’s [...]