gloves | Sewchet

October 26, 2017
by sewchet 22 Comments

Stitching Santa – How To Make Faux Sheepskin Mittens

Remember the faux sheepskin coat I made a couple of weeks ago?

Well, despite messing up the sleeves and having to re-cut them, I still had some largish scraps of fabric left and started looking for ways to use them up, preferably for Christmas presents or for something to add to my Stitching Santa parcel. The first and most obvious thing that came to mind was to make a pair of mittens.

Having trawled the internet for a pattern, I discovered that it would probably be just as easy to design my own based on a few that I’d seen, so I gave it a go and this is the result.

img_3258-1

They turned out better than I imagined and only took a couple of hours, most of which was taken up hand-sewing the thumb in place.

Boosted by my success, I thought I’d do a quick tutorial as these would make a great handmade Christmas gift. They would be great in a fleecy fabric, too, as the raw edges can just be left as they are without fraying.

There are just two simple pattern pieces to this pair of mittens; click on the links below to download and print.

Printable Mitten Template

Mitten pattern

Printable Thumb Template

Cut out the pieces as below for each mitten, reversing the template for the second mitten.

You will notice that the TOP of the mitten has been cut out WITHOUT the curve. To do this, simply draw a straight line connecting points D+E on the MITTENS template.

img_3261-1

Make sure that any stretch in the fabric goes ACROSS the hand width – you can see where I am pulling the fabric to find the stretch in the photo below.

img_3245-1

You may also spot in the photo above that the first draft was one piece folded in half. I later adapted this to make two separate pieces so that there would be a seam all the way around.

Pin the top of the mitten (no curve) to the bottom (with curve) with WRONG sides together. You may find this easier with quilting clips if the fabric is thick like mine.

img_3248-1

With 1/4″ seam allowance, sew from A to D and from B to E, leaving an opening for the thumb.

img_3249-1

img_3250-1

With WRONG sides together and 1/4″ seam allowance, fold the thumb in half and sew from C to D.

img_3251-1

Pin the thumb in place.

img_3252-1

Hand-sew the thumb to the body of the mitten with a BACKSTITCH, 1/4″ from the raw edges.

img_3253-1

img_3254-1

You can trim any excess fur from the seams if you like, to tidy them up, but that’s it – finished.

How simple?

img_3258-1

They really are lovely and cosy and much more pliable than real sheepskin, so are much more comfortable to wear.

I managed to get a second pair of mittens out of the scraps, so I am going to put one pair in my Stitching Santa parcel and the other will be a Christmas gift for someone in the family.

Talking of Stitching Santa the deadline is 31st October – have YOU signed up yet?

December 5, 2015
by sewchet 46 Comments

#stitchingsanta Update

Just a quick post to show you what I’ve been putting together for my #stitchingsanta swap. This is the knitting/crochet category, although I have more to show you from the sewing swap, too, in a later post.

This blog was new to me and I spent a lot of time reading through the archives, researching all about her likes and hobbies. She is a very skilled knitter and I’m hoping I haven’t embarrassed myself with my comparatively amateur offerings!

I spent my budget on something I am pretty certain she will appreciate – two skeins of utterly gorgeous 100% Superfine Alpaca 4ply yarn, perfect for socks, in a lovely shade of blue that reminds me of the sea.

Artesano yarn

Artesano yarn detail

I found a free sock pattern and printed it out as a suggestion of what to make with it.

Artesano free Tiffanie sock pattern

I knitted this berry-red cowl in a chenille yarn which is so cosy and soft to wear that I will find it hard to part with!

Knitted Rib Cowl

This fair isle headband was fun to make and the reverse side is very neat, I am proud to say, with all the yarn carried across the back tidily. It coordinates nicely with the cowl, picking out the red.

fairisle headband

I will probably add an appliquéd something to these tweedy fingerless gloves, just to liven them up a bit. Maybe in red to tie in with the cowl and headband.

gloves

I am hoping to find some bits and pieces to add to the parcel as I have a pound or two left in the budget. It will have to be clever shopping though, or more homemade things at that budget!

How are you getting on with yours?

September 10, 2015
by sewchet 57 Comments

Giveaways And Giving Back

I knitted an egg this morning before No.1 Son had crawled out from his hungover slumber just after midday.

Yup, you heard right – I knitted an egg.

It took an hour and a half of knitting on 2.25mm needles with leftover sock yarn to finish this tiny creation, which was supposed to be sent flat to be filled with a polystyrene egg by the recipient.

Trouble was, I didn’t have the required 2.75mm needles or a tension gauge to refer to so it probably wouldn’t fit. I stuffed it with fibre fill instead, and popped it in the post.

The deadline was “Autumn”, the first day of which is 21st September so, although I’ve had this on my to-do list since early July, it’s still in time. Forty are needed to give to children next Easter according to Claire’s original post. How’s the tally going Claire? Do you need any more? Look out for this little parcel in the next day or two:)

Talking of parcels, this one arrived a few days ago – I LOVE getting parcels in the post, even if I already know what’s going to be inside. Is anybody else like that?

This was a yarn related giveaway from Sharon who blogs at Creativity and Family.

The ‘wrapping paper’ was printed patchwork cotton fabric and the ‘gift tag’ was a cute little chalkboard with my name on it.

There was a handwritten note inside saying that Sharon had also included some sweets for The Boys. How thoughtful!

This is what the parcel contained. What a spread!

Shall I show you in more detail?

This lovely book which has so many great crochet projects to inspire.

I’m rather liking the look of this boxy cardigan to start with.

Two balls of Debblie Bliss ‘Milano’, a tweed effect yarn with 40% wool.

These gorgeous little stork embroidery scissors with attached miniature crocheted cat – a sweet reference to the competition which I won with the cat’s name “Whiskers”.

All of this will fit in the pretty Cath Kidston project bag.

I’ve already started making a tweedy hat for one of The Boys.

I’ve just found out that I’ve won another giveaway too, this time a Hallowe’en fabric bundle from Nat at Threads and Bobbins.

I can’t wait to get stuck into that little lot – any ideas what I could make?

If you cast your mind back to July, I won another giveaway, this one from Amy at Yarnaway, containing all this: –

I made a crocheted rib beanie from the multi-tonal yarn…..

….and a pair of bobble fingerless gloves from the beautiful book that was included in the giveaway.

I’ve still got a whole ball of yarn left to use myself, so I thought I’d pass forward some of this generosity by hosting another giveaway.

If you would like to win the beanie and matching gloves either for yourself or maybe to give as a Christmas present, just leave a comment below.

A winner will be picked out of the hat as usual (no ‘random number generators’ on this blog!) after midnight on Wednesday 16th September.

Good luck!

December 3, 2014
by sewchet 20 Comments

#sewingsanta

Just a quick post today to show you a few of the things I’ve made for my #sewingsanta recipient (who remains anonymous!).

I spent the maximum limit of ten pounds ages ago so I thought I’d take some time to sew some little gifts with fabric and bits from my stash. This way it’s not cheating because they haven’t cost a penny other than my time spent creating them.

These are the added extras – and boy have I had fun!

This needlecase is made from remnants of silk – red on the outside and gold on the inside.

A cute little mandala key ring using scraps of felt and ribbon.

My very first attempt at needle felting – a tiny Robin brooch.

Shown briefly the other day, this pocket tissue cover was created from leftover fabric from a book bag project.

I had planned on including these pure lambswool fingerless gloves too, but they just sold on Folksy so I will have to make some more:)

There are more items to come because I’ve never had so much pleasure making random things just for the fun of it!

How’s your #sewingsanta parcel coming along?

November 29, 2014
by sewchet 7 Comments

Upcycled Scarf Into Cowl & Wristwarmers

Hmmmm, bit of a disappointment.

Having spent the larger part of a day refashioning an already beautiful scarf into a bespoke gift for someone specific aged 17, I am gently informed by her mother that she wouldn’t wear it as she doesn’t like pink.

I then offered the set to my 23 year old daughter who told me that, although she likes it, she wouldn’t wear it because…..she doesn’t like pink!

Am I alone in my love of pink in all its glorious tones and associated femininity? Or is an age thing and just not ~~trendy~~ ‘cool’ for anyone under forty?

Anyway, it’s up for grabs for £25-00 for the set if anyone is interested:)

So, onto the pictures.

This is the original scarf as shown in a previous post….

I removed the velvet edging and cut open the tubular scarf to make a wide piece of ‘fabric’, then cut it into a cowl sized piece and two glove size pieces.

The cowl was stitched into a tube and the raw edges overlocked.

Next I added a row of double crochet to the upper edge in deep lilac….

….and a delicate picot edging to the lower edge.

Et voilá!

Next, for the gloves, I appliquéd a pink heart (made from a felted lambswool jumper) onto the front of each glove using the same lilac yarn.

A picot edge was crocheted around the finger end of the gloves to match the border on the cowl.

I think they make a lovely set as it’s so rare to find such a gorgeous fair isle knit in such good quality.

So if you know anyone who would love to buy this, please point them in this direction – there must be someone out there who loves pink as much as I do!!!!