In the recent school holidays we embarked on an exciting trip to Tasmania. Usually we opt for an “escape the winter” holiday (even though winters in Geraldton are very mild), but this year we decided to really embrace some glacial weather in all it’s glory. None of us had any winter gloves, so instead of investing in pieces of clothing we were unlikely to use much again, I decided to make the girls some mittens from some old woollen jumpers.
I was really happy with how they turned out (although I made a few mistakes along the way), so have decided to share the DIY on here. It’s a really simple project that reaps generous rewards. You can either use old woollen jumpers or sweaters (if you’re American) as they are, or felt them by washing them or tumble drying them at high temperatures. The turquoise jumper I used was felted, but the tangerine one was as is. Some patterns encourage you to use the sleeves, but unless the gloves are for a toddler, they will be too small. I used the waistband of the jumpers for these gloves.
Firstly, you place one of your hands on a double layer of the jumper with your fingers together and your thumb in the natural position in which it sits when your hand is flat. The bottom of the waistband should end at your wrist. Draw around your hand and then add a seam allowance plus a couple of centimetres for wriggle room. Cut out your mitten and use this one to cut another identical mitten. Sew right sides together on your sewing machine, turn right side out and then it’s done! Easy peasy! You can now have some fun embellishing the mittens with a bit of hand embroidery. Some pitfalls to watch out for : I made the turquoise ones too short in the wrist, hence the need for the extra cuff and the tangerine ones were too tight in the wrist, necessitating some unpicking and resewing.
This holiday was the first time our kids got to experience snow, so there was great excitement! Some pictures of the mittens in action to follow . . .
