Best Fit Mittens Sewing Pattern
Have you ever tried to make mittens that are not just warm but also feel good to wear? Some patterns just do not fit well. After years of sewing & designing patterns this is now my all-time favourite mitten pattern. Maybe more hands can be a bit happier with this best fit mittens sewing pattern.
Choosing your Fabric:
There is an endless list of what mittens can be made of! The key things to consider is bulk, stretch, fraying and wearability. Mittens that are too thick or stiff will not allow your hands to function properly. If the shape is wrong it will be difficult to pull on. This pattern is quite versatile with the use of different fabric on the back and on the palm. I love to use felted wool sweaters.
List of Fabric Options:
- Vintage wool blankets (felted)
- Wool sweater (that accidentally felted)
- Polar fleece
- Nuno felted fabric
- Faux Fur
- Shearling fur
- Quilted Fabric
- Leather from garments
- Vinyl
- Upcycled denim
- Fauz fur
- Sweater knits
- Thin fleece or knit for lining
- Ribbed knit or sweater for cuff
Supplies/Tools:
- Sewing Machine (could be hand-sewn)
- Thread, scissors, pins/clips
- 2 Buttons or embellishment
- Optional Needle felting Supplies (Felting needles & Wool Roving)
The Unique Mitten Pattern:
To make these the complete Mitten Making eBook can be downloaded here. It is a printable PDF file, 30 pages long. There are illustrations and many photos to help make unique mittens.
This PDF eBook has 4 sizes (S – XL) and 13 pattern pages that can printed with a home printer(make sure they are not reduced, keep at 100%) . The instruction document can also be read with the Adobe Acrobat Reader application.
Vintage Wool Blankets:
Even felted wool blankets (often vintage ones) make great mittens. The felting process helps make the wool become so dense that it will no longer fray after cutting. The other great thing about the wool is that it can be dyed or eco printed or even needle felted. My difficulty is mostly deciding on the combinations of colours, fabrics and designs.
Re-Purposing Leather
I like to make some mittens in order to use up those small scraps of fabric from other projects. Leather garments that are past their life of wearing can be easily used to make mittens. The leather is soft and can be often sewn with a domestic sewing machine. If need be the leather can be conditioned with a waterproofing cream as well. When sewing leather use longer stitch lengths. That the multiple holes that the needle makes should not weaken the leather to rip. It also helps to use a leather needle to sew leather. I often find on thin leather it does not matter (smaller needle size makes it easier for the machine)
Finishing Touches:
The folded over cuff makes this design very cleanly finished. There is a lining that keeps the seams away from your fingers inside. The instructions show illustrations for assembly including how to insert and attach the lining. Sweater knit or ribbed knit fabric can be used for the cuffs. To keep the cuff in place a simple button or other embellishment is sewn in place. Once they are sewn there are no unfinished edges.
Why is this Pattern Better?
The reason this pattern fits and feels well is that does not have a seam across the palm as many DIY mitten patterns have. The unique thumb design follows the natural anatomy of the hand; our thumb does not attach at the side of our hand, but rather inside our hand. The inside palm can be a bit shorter than the outside so that it follows the natural curve of our hand, not very flat.
Why make your own Mittens?
By making your own mittens it allows you to be unique. Why not make ones that match whatever you have to wear. It is more difficult to find mittens that fit well than gloves. You can also make a custom size of your own mittens. My downloadable mitten pattern has 4 adult sizes from small to extra large. These drafted patterns have a 3/8 inch seam allowance marked. Sewing your own mittens lets you make design adjustments to your own preferences.
My Best Fit Mittens Pattern includes many pictures of design options. This tutorial book includes step-by-step details for assembling the mittens. This eBook has 30 pages of images, illustrations and instruction; designed professionally.
The back piece is a great place to add some interesting design. I have had many who have bought the Eco Printed Mittens and each one is completely unique.
As you see here, the thumb fits into place as it is naturally on the hand. To make these more durable some backstitch can be added where needed. My favourite is to use leather for the palm & thumb.
Have you ever discovered that you can make the sewing machine ‘draw’?! Adjust your sewing machine by attaching a darning foot or simply lowering the feed-dogs and loosening pressure. You can glide the fabric around under the needle to create free-hand lines of stitching. Creating a design with a sewing machine is actually not as difficult as you may think.
Coordinating Accessories:
One sadly felted sweater (expensive lambswool) became a hat and mitts and some accent on a scarf. The softness is amazing with a warm micro-fleece lining as well.
Needle-Felted Design:
The art of needle-felting is not as difficult as it looks. I will explain the entire process for these next week (stay tuned) It is a way to add fibre art using small barbed needles to force the wool fibres into the fabric. Needle felting makes the fibres attach incredibly well. Designs are only limited by your imagination.
I have a tutorial for this needle felting! The fibres that have not been spun into yarn by the spinning process are called roving. Use the colourful wool fibres as the ‘paint’ and you can create the picture on the fabric.
The wool fibres will not able to fray after they have gone through the felting process. That will allow many ways to use the scraps for other things; adorning a scarf or even sweaters. I imagine some sweet DIY hand-puppets made as well (almost like a mitten!)
Feel free to adjust the pattern as you like; adding and elastic wrist. Maybe these mittens will keep a lot of scrap fabric from the landfill.
I hope I can add a little extra warmth to hands everywhere.
Those mittens look just like a sewn version of the “fried chicken thumb” I normally knit.
I have downloadad your pattern and will sew a pair just to compare.
It’s only recently that I learned that ‘my’ way of knitting a thumb gusset had this totally ridiculous name. I called them the Norwegian-but-really-American gusset 😉 Not much better, I agree.
I look forward to trying your pattern. Thank you for posting it.
If you want to see my knitting it’s here: https://krydderuglen.blogspot.com/2023/01/skve-vanter-asymmetrical-mittens.html If it’s not OK, please just delete either the link ot the whole reply. I’ll then re-answer without link.
Wow, ‘Fried chicken thumb’?! Chicken drumstick??? I appreciate those who have the patience to knit…
Dear Barb. Could I ask you to make the letters just a bit darker? My vision is impaired, and I have trouble reading these light grey letters on white. Just a bit darker – or maybe bold – would do the trick.
Thanks for your fabulous blog!
Do you mean the regular text on the pages? It is black on the white background. I know that you can set your browser to increase everything on the page, including the text. On my Mac/Chrome it is ‘command & +’. Changing an entire website is quite the difficult project.
I look forward to ordering your e-book mittens pattern and making some next week!
Awesome! Thanks!
Hi Barb, I tried to download the pattern and nothing happened. I went to your download page and it appears that none of the downloads work.
Nothing happens when I click on the download button. What am I missing?
Strange, it does take me here.