11.09.2011

Fingerless Mittens Tutorial

With kids running around and always needing their noses wiped or help with toys, I find myself constantly taking my gloves on and off.  So I decided to make myself some fingerless mittens and thought I'd share.  They are super easy.....here we go.

I made mine with fleece and then embellished with some jersey scraps and buttons I had around.

First, I traced my hand, adding about 1/2 inch all the way around.



I outlined a pattern with marker.  You want to leave extra at the top of the finger and thumb part since it's going to get folded over and sewn.  I made one set just leaving the raw edges and though it looks okay, it doesn't hold up well over time. 
Fleece definitely has a right and wrong side and one way stretches more.  So make sure you figure out which side is the right side and how it stretches.
Fold the fleece in half and cut 2 pieces for each mitten.  Sorry about the pink background, taking photos at night is tough!
Fold the top of the finger portion and thumb portion 1/4 inch to the wrong side and sew with a wide zig zag so that the seam will stretch. 
If you want to embellish, do it now!  Make sure you do the mirror image halves of the set.
Put the front and back together (1 embellished piece with 1 plain piece) and sew as shown.  Don't sew across the top or the thumb piece for obvious reasons :)
There you have it!  A cute pair of fingerless mittens!


Make a pair for yourself....


And for your favorite photographer friend.  Figuring how to to trace your friends' hands without them getting suspicious is the trick. 

Let me know what you come up with!
 

16 comments:

  1. So simple and cute...thanks for sharing!

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  2. i never thought of just adding the thumb into the mitten part. I was meticulously stitching it into the little whole. I am def trying your way out! thank you

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  3. Thanks for this excellent tutorial. I just subscribed to your blog, so I'll keep in touch. Kisses from Venezuela!

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  4. I loved this wonderful tutorial! I think I can make these for friends for Chritmas! So very cute! Thanks so much!

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  5. I love this! Thank you so much for sharing it. I'm totally making my nieces some for Christmas :)

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  6. Thanks for sharing this good idea!
    As for the hand tracing... I want to make a family quilt with handprints and names of our family. I told them one of the kids need the handprints / traced hands for a picture in kindergarten. Everyone was willing at once and they asked no more questions :)

    Good luck and happy sewing :))

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  7. I made some! Thanks so much for the tute!!

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  8. What a great idea! I can see where these would come in handy.....don't think I could get my husband to wear them with the cute little flowers on them though!

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  9. Oh my gosh... what a great idea.. thank you so much.

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  10. Cool! I have heated seats in my car but no heated steering wheel and I don't like the feeling of full gloves and driving so I'm going to try this! Thanks!

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  11. I going to make a pair for my husband as he has arthritis and his hand hurt when it is cold. I think I will make a pair for me as well. Thank you so much for sharing this simple and cute Idea.

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  12. great tutorial. my kids would love them. and me too. :)

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  13. I know I'm a year late, but just found your blog. If you still haven't figured out how to get his size without him figuring out what you're doing, try this: the next time you guys are holding hands, play with his hands a bit. Exclaim how big his hands are compared to yours. Then line up your palm with his and note how much bigger his hand is on the pinkie finger side (line up thumb to thumb, pointer to pointer, so that the "excess" is on the pinkie side.) Keep playing with his hands for a few minutes and he probably won't suspect a thing! lol Then trace your hand and add the excess and they should fit. It seems like the thumb opening and the wrist fit him ok on the pair you made. The fact that he can get his hand in them tells me that you will only need to add about an inch or a bit less, to the palm and perhaps that to the wrist/forearm area for them not to twist on him. hth

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  14. Thank you for posting this tutorial! I've looked at a few and yours is explained clearly and with useful tips so I really appreciate it! My husband is always complaining about how cold his hands get at work so I'm going to make him a pair of these for his birthday! :D

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