Double-sided Mittens

I'd like to show you how I make super warm double-sided mittens. The process is easy and you don't need a pattern, just the hands you're sewing for ;-)

I make these mittens from old sweaters and blankets or leftover fabric I have left from other projects.

1. paper
2. pen
3. scissors
4. 2 warm fabrics (old sweater, blanket, scrap sweater fabric)
5. hand-sewing needle
6. sewing machine
7. matching thread

You don't need any pattern for this, just place your hand on a piece of paper and trace around it. Notice how I'm not tracing right at my hand but rather leaving quite a lot of space. That's because both of the fabrics I'm using are very thick, one is sweater fabric and the other one is a very fluffy sherpa. If you're using thinner fabric such as sweat, you can add less space but generally, for these mittens I recommend adding at least 2 cm/0.8 in.

Cut out the pattern and measure the bottom edge. Then cut out a rectangle that is 5 cm/2 in long and as wide as the bottom edge of the mitten.

Now to the cutting. Cut two mirroring sets of mittens (4 mittens) from both fabrics. Use the rectangle to cut what will be the hem of each mitten. Place the rectangle on fold of the fabric (the length is on the fold) so when you cut it the fabric will be twice as wide as the rectangle.

Now you have:

1. 4 mittens (left and right) from fabric A
2. 4 mittens (left and right) from fabric B
3. 2 hems from fabric A
4. 2 hems from fabric B

Pick 2 mirroring mittens from the same fabric, place them right sides together and stitch them around the edges. Stitch the rest of the mittens in the same way. You need to stitch as far from the edges as the fringing of the fabric requires and make sure to use that same distance for all the mittens (I'm stitching 1 cm/0.4 in from the edge).

Now you should have 4 mittens, one pair from each fabric.

Pick up one hem from fabric A and one hem from fabric B and place them right sides facing each other. Stitch one of the long sides. Open. Fold this piece in the other direction (see last picture) and stitch the long open edge. To the same with the two remaining parts of the other hem. Now you have two hems that look like tunnels for now. Keep them wrong side out.

Take one mitten from any fabric, make sure it's right side out and pull it into one hem so that the edge of the mitten aligns with the edge of the hem from the same fabric. (picture 1)

Stitch the edge and pull the hem right side out. (picture 2)

Take one mitten from the other fabric, turn it wrong side out and push it through the "tunnel" hem. (picture 3)

If you did everything correctly, you'll be able to align the edge of that mitten with the other edge of the hem. (picture 4)

Now you need to fold the edge of the mitten and the edge of the hem a little in and you can either stitch them with a machine or in hand using the Invisible Stitch. Especially if you're using fluffy fabrics like the sherpa and a matching thread, you can use the machine, she stitches shouldn't be too visible. (pictures 5 and 6)

Pull one mitten inside the other and make sure everything fits nicely (one thumb is inside the other and the bottom of the hem is nicely aligned). The last thing left to do is to stitch the seams together so you can turn the mittens nicely.

You'll have to do this in hand. Stitch inside the edges using the back stitch. You don't need to stitch all the seams but I recommend at least the hem seam, the tip of the thumb and the upper part of the mitten where the fingertips are.

Now you can use your mittens, turn them to whichever side you prefer or just turn the hem for a more fashionable look.