Oven Mitt From Recycled Materials

I saw that my friend's oven mitts were beyond repair, so I decided to make him some new ones.

Everything I needed was found in my storage boxes, and in the kitchen I found an oven mitt to serve as an example.

I used the following materials:

For the outer side

• some leather from an old sofa, that I kept because the reverse side of the boring leather turned out to be a beautiful blue suede
• jeans with worn knees, 100% cotton

For the padded lining

• a duvet (or comforter) that was torn, made from non-woven fabric 100% polypropylene, and a filling from 100 % polyester (already 100% recycled)

Alternatively, you can use old towels, shrunken wool sweaters or cotton wool for the padding, and for instance a cotton shirt for the lining.

Tools I used:

• a sewing machine
• thread and pins
• scissors
• a marker
• an iron and ironing board

FABRIC:

You will need pieces of approx 38 x 26 cm or 15 x 10 1/4 inch.

Spacious pieces of fabric make it easier to trim the excess fabric later.

• fabric of choice for the 2 outer layers.
• insulation or padding. Although the leather offers some heat protection, more protection doesn't hurt. I used the filling from the duvet.
• lining. I used 2 layers of non-woven fabric from the duvet.
• some bias binding or twill tape for the loop.
• fabric or ribbon to finish off the opening.

PATTERN:

Download the PDF. It's at the bottom of this step. Print the document and make sure it's printed on a 100% scale. Tape the pages together, there are marks to make it easier.

Cut out the pattern.

IMPORTANT:

If you follow this instructable correctly, you will end up with a left-hand mitt. To make it right-hand, just switch the leather and jeans layers.

Pin the paper pattern on a piece of non-woven fabric and follow the contours with a marker.

Then pin together a layer of non-woven fabric, padding, and another layer of non-woven fabric.

Stitch a few lines across to hold them together. There is no need to be very exact at this point.

Repeat this step for the other padded lining.

Stitch one part together with a narrow hem, following the contours of the marker lines, and trim this part roughly.

Now it's time to stitch all layers together.

Fold a ribbon and put it between the middle layers to create a loop. The loop must point inwards.

Place the pieces in the following order (i.e. Right sides together):

Padded lining / Leather / Folded Ribbon / Jeans / Padded lining.

Stitch together with a 5-7 mm hem, but not at the bottom!

Cut off the excess material.

Zigzag around the hem. Again, not at the bottom!

To turn the mitt inside out, put your hand between the middle layers. Push the outside inward with your other hand.

It is best to start with the thumb.

You can finish off the opening with bias binding, or twill tape, which is much easier than making this colorful finish I made because it matched the colors of my friend's kitchen. But if you want to:

Cut off a piece of fabric, about 5 x 40 cm or 2 x 15 3/4 inch.

Zigzag it.

Fold a 1-1.5 cm hem. If it doesn't stick, iron it. Fold over a hem at one 5 cm side.

Stitch it to the inside, beginning with the hemmed side.

Fold it over, and stitch it to the right side, making a folded overlap at the end.

One beautiful left-hand oven mitt.