More utilitarian sewing. Still playing catchup in Snug Bug-land! Last Saturday when I bundled up to head out into the snowstorm of the decade, I realized that my BASSET HOUND had systematically gnawed off various fingers from all of the (apparently delicious) toasty gloves in the house. So I made myself a nice, toasty pair of mittens (no fingers, possibly basset hound proof?) All wool and flannel and purple. They were dubbed the grimace mittens (remember Grimace, the furry purple hamburger lover and ham radio enthusiast from McDonalds ads??) by a friend. You can see why!
Some important drafting notes…
- While these are super cute, the method of pattern drafting I chose (outlining my hand on a piece of paper…) leaves something to be desired. On account of our opposable thumbs and all. I thought since I’ve knitted mittens that were either-handed, it would work fine for fabric. In practice, they’re super toasty, but very hard to maneuver!
- The purple is a cool felted wool! It doesn’t fray, so I was able to leave the edges on the outside and unfinished!
- I cut out the purple wool, then I traced out and cut the flannel lining (the chartreuse with dots) and some wool quilt batting using the same pattern pieces. I quilted the lining fabric to the batting, then assembled the lining by sewing right sides together. I trimmed the seams and turned the linings. Then tucked them inside the wool mittens, turned the lining over and zig-zagged around the wrists to tack down.
- I’m particularly pleased with the buttons! They are from a make-at-home self covered kit – I embroidered a little flower on the fabric circle before assembling the button! They’re so cute!
So that’s it. Very toasty Grimace mittens! This should be it for my utilitarian sewing series, as I’ve nothing at home that I haven’t blogged about. What I DO have is a half-sewn Beignet, a Kwik Sew turtleneck, a partial franken-Jenny, a Sencha and a Parfait… all coming next week to a Snug Bug near you!
Love 'em! So bright and fun, and cheery when the weather is cold and yucky!
HAHAHAH! I love your Grimmace mittens!
Ha! Those are very fun mittens!
Why is it we always take stock of our mittens only when it's actually snowing? With my kids hovering over me, anxious to get out in the snow, I dumped our 2 rubbermaid bins (yes, 2) of hats and mittens and scarves out on the floor and discovered we have an abundance of single mittens and gloves. ???
Those are cute… if they don't work out as outdoor mittens, you could always use them for oven mitts?
I love the zigzag stitching at the wrist too, but the contrast flower on the buttons is especially darling. I love that you used wool batting for extra warmth as well. I wonder if you'd done a seamed thumb if it would really be that much more flexible? I like the idea of mittens to shield from the cold primarily and wearing gloves (even fingerless) underneath for things that require precision.
Those are the cutest mittens ever! These would be fun for kiddos too!