Tutorial Tuesday - Recycled Wool Mittens & Mitten Doublers

Edited to add: I take it for granted that everyone knows the true "first step"... felt (wash it in a hot wash & throw it in the dryer) your sweater before you cut your mitten pieces. This will prevent your pieces from unraveling.

The first step is to create your pattern. I don't know how to make patterns to scale online, but hopefully you can create one for yourself, based on their shapes. It isn't too hard, considering that I made a pattern for my son's mittens the other day from eyeballing the adult pattern. I originally started with this pattern, but it was much bigger than what I wanted, so I tweaked it until I got my current pattern. Maybe that will work best for you too. If you eyeball it, the important thing to remember is to make sure your 2 palm pieces end up being a total length of about 1/2" longer than your back of hand piece, since you will be sewing the 2 pieces together, that will be your seam allowance. You will be starting with 4 pieces... the back of the hand, the 2 palm pieces, and the cuff. The cuff can be the cuffs of the sweater (what I used here), or a piece of ribbing from the sweater sewn into the same tube shape.


Ok, ready? Sew your 2 palm pieces together in the middle, wrong sides out, creating the thumb.


Now sew the back of hand piece to your palm piece, remembering wrong sides out. You will want to move the thumb out of the way as you go.



If you are making Mitten Doublers, that's it... you're done!

Making mittens? Now it's time for the cuff. Take your cuff & stick it inside with the cut edges lined up. When you look inside, you should see the "right " side without the seam. Now sew your cut edges together, stretching a little as you go.


Now you are done. Flip them right side out, roll up your cuff, & enjoy your cozy, eco friendly, cute, naturally insulated mittens!




At this point many people like to secure their cuffs with a button or decorative stitching, but I like to leave them as-is, so they can be rolled down & stuck in a coat sleeve when it's extra cold or snowy. The choice is yours!

A new shop & a new feature for Resweater

I wanted to have an online venue for my finished products, so I opened up a second shop, Resweater Etc. I set it up, and even added a few things, and realized that it's too much work for me to take on right now. It is time consuming to list, especially since I have to be the eyes & fingers in my descriptions, since my customers can't pick them up & feel them. It is also time consuming to keep them inventoried, and organized in between craft shows too. If this were my only shop & venue, it wouldn't be a problem, but I have my Resweater shop, my wholesale orders, and my craft shows. Preschool is only 3 hours long ;) ! I feel bad though, not being able to offer my finished products online, especially for those of you that have asked for them, so I will be doing something new. Wednesdays will now be "What i've been working on Wednesday", and I will show the stuff I made that week. Just like Sweater Sunday, this will give you an opportunity to call dibs on anything you want to buy, before it is offered up to my wholesale customer or craft shows. What do you think?

This is what i've made over the last couple of weeks...

Diaper covers: medium longies in a thick merino, large double layer soaker in lambswool & merino, small double layer soaker in lambswool.


Lots o' mittens! By the way... they look perfect on hands, but look so wonky & oddly shaped laying there. Does anyone have any mitten secrets they would like to share? Steaming? Ironing?



Lot's o' Mitten Doublers.

Resweater Mitten Doublers

I am going to be selling at a couple of local craft shows in November, and one of the things I will be selling for the first time is mittens. I gave them out as gifts to friends last year, but never sold them until now. Whenever I sell something new, or make something new, I always ask my friends lots of questions & get their opinions. On the mittens, I asked if they should be lined or have a second layer. One friend said she would definitely not buy mittens unless they were super thick double layer. Other friends said they liked the single layer, and the double layer would make their hands sweat. Some said it depended on the day & activity they needed them for. Hmmmm. I walked away even more confused. Should I line them all, line none of them, make both? Then I came up with the idea for a removable lining... Mitten Doublers! For those who don't want a second layer at all, they are fine as is. For those who want a second layer, or the option of a second layer, can purchase the Mitten Doublers. You can leave them inside the mittens, or take them out as needed. What do you think?

Mitten Doubler & Mitten Doubler inside of mitten:

Sorry for the awful pictures, but I didn't want to wait for better lighting this morning.