I recently knitted mittens for myself but those became my “nice” mittens. Knitted mittens are lovely but won’t hold up to the rigors of skiing, snowball throwing, and extreme cold so I decided I needed some really warm mittens for just those purposes. Several weeks ago I made my fleece cozy pants and had quite a bit of fabric left over from that. My leftover fabric provided me with enough fleece to sew myself some thick mittens. The hubby decided he liked my mittens and requested a pair as well.
I looked for a pattern for fleece mittens but didn’t find any that I really liked. The main problem for me was that the thumb stuck way out to the side, and I wanted them to look more like a pair that you could purchase, with the thumb more on the underside of the mitten. Using an old pair of mittens as a guide, I fiddled around and came up with a pattern I was happy with.
I thought I would share it with you so you can have toasty fingers too!
Materials:
About 3/4 of a yard of anti-pill fleece
Pattern pieces
Step One:
Cut out your pattern pieces out of paper. Here are the measurements that I used.
Fold your fabric in half with right sides together and pin pattern pieces to the fabric. You will need to cut 2 of each piece (with fabric folded in half).
Step Two:
Line up thumb pieces (pattern Piece 3 and the rounded part on pattern Piece 2) with right sides together and using a 1/4 seam allowance, sew around the 2 1/2 inch piece to create a pocket for the thumb, starting and stopping your seam about 3 inches from the top of the thumb piece.
With right sides together sew the side of Piece 3 to Piece 2 to create the underside of your mitten.
Step Three:
With right sides together, line up the tops of Piece 2 (now with completed thumb) and Piece 1. Pin and then, using a 1/4 inch seam allowance, sewing around the outside of the pieces. Trim off any excess fabric around the top of the mitten and the thumb. This part is the outer part of your mitten. Repeat all the steps again to create the lining, except this time use a 1/2 inch seam allowance. Once you have both the lining and outer complete, turn the outer part right side out but leave the lining wrong side out.
Step Four:
Put the lining on your hand. With the lining on your hand, slide it into the outer part of the mitten and wiggle your fingers around in it to make the seams line up and feel smooth.
Step Five:
Decide how long your want your mittens and then turn the bottom edge to the inside on both the outer and lining. Line up all seams. I chose to turn mine under 1 inch.
With a 1/4 in. seam allowance, sew around bottom of mitten. It is pretty thick so take your time and get stuff lined up correctly. On my mittens I chose to go around the bottom again 1 inch from the bottom to create more of a cuff, which you can do if desired.
Step Six:
Repeat all the steps to make your second mitten. Or, if you are feeling confident, do the steps for both mittens as you go along.
With these mittens you will be ready for whatever winter throws at you.
This post is linked to Lines Across My Face, Homestead Barn Hop, Life Made Lovely, Sew Much Ado, The Creative Paige, and Family Ever After.
10:12 am on November 28th, 2011
Great tutorial! Super cool that you can come up with your own patterns. I’m not good enough at sewing to do that yet, but I can do it to some extent with knitting. Coming up with patterns is fun, isn’t it?
12:53 pm on November 28th, 2011
I love that you figured out how to make that thumb on the front. Thanks so much for sharing this. I might use it in the very near future.:)
7:43 am on November 30th, 2011
Shiloh, thanks for stopping by! Hope your mittens turn out great!
7:44 am on November 30th, 2011
Inna, making patterns is fun, although slightly maddening at times. I probably measured and remeasured a zillion times before I got it right. Patterns making is lots of trial and error.
9:09 am on December 28th, 2011
THANK YOU for this pattern. I’d been fooling around with different ways to make fleece mittens, but wasn’t able to perfect a pattern. I ride my bike in the New England cold and need mittens (gloves don’t cut it) to keep my fingers from going numb. They are surprisingly hard to find in stores. I made a pair last night from your pattern last night. They turned out great. I used one of my boy’s outgrown fleece pullovers for the lining. I will definitely use the pattern again…and again.
Bonnie
9:47 pm on December 28th, 2011
Bonnie, so glad you found it helpful! I hope they keep your fingers nice and toasty when you bike!