Sewing Gifts, Part 5

These have been great. I made homemade mittens! I didn't really think it was possible, at least not possible for me. But I can assure you that it is quite possible. This tutorial was the inspiration and how-to. It walks you through making the customized fit! I traced my girls' hands, followed the directions (with a few grand changes, of course) and it worked admirably.

I used some leftover cotten wovens (cheap calico, anyone?) that I'd used to make a size 2 dress for Big Sister when she was... 2. Okay, so I keep everything. It works out sometimes, see? The inside layer was some super-soft anti-pill fleece that I got 1) on sale, 2) marked down due to dirt [no, it wasn't me who ran a shopping cart over it, but it washed out great!], 3)when I thought I'd be making *blue* diaper covers. I decorated the outside with leftover (from the crayon rolls) rickrack and some random buttons. I didn't have sets of buttons, so only the right-hand mittens got a button. Don't worry; I have used that element (or lack thereof) to help teach left and right!

The pattern ends up huge; don't worry. In fact, I thought the thumbs ended up almost too skinny. Of course, I used fluffy fleece and an extra secret layer... The shiny red stuff in the picture is some red PUL - waterproof diaper-making stuff. Again, red because I have very poor intuition. It weren't cheap (weren't too expensive neither, cause I joined a co-op)and I didn't want it to be for naught. So, while the festive, red, christmas-ey diaper cover didn't happen, it became a very nice waterproof layer in my girls' mittens (and completely invisible, too)!

I made a little loop along the side of each wrist, and fastened a cheap (read "clearance spool of christmas-printed) ribbon (adjustable with high-tech safety pins) between the mittens. Does that make sense? Did your mother every make you wear mittens that threaded through your coatsleeves so you wouldn't lose one? Yes, I'm that uncool too. But my kids are homeschooled so they don't notice.

If I ever want to deal with another 24 (!) mitten-shaped layers, I might pick a different fabric for the outer; the girls use these, and the color and pattern has nearly completely rubbed off, leaving a grayish, worn-out area.