Winter was absolutely magical when I was a child. My family spent many nights and weekends cross-country skiing and snowshoeing through the forests and across the lakes of Minnesota. I loved the adventures we had, but keeping my hands warm was always a challenge. It wasn't until my teen years when I started layering wool mittens over a thinner pair of mittens or gloves that I finally mastered the art of staying warm on cold days.

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There's no need to wait until your children are practically grown before they, too can enjoy toasty fingers. Just like our bodies, our hand really benefit from being dressed in layers. This mitten pattern is what you call an outer layer, or shell, in technical layering terms. The mittens are sized generously so you can pull them right over the top of your children's handmade knitted mittens or gloves. You will love how quickly these mittens come together. Your children will love having cozy, warm hands.

SIZE

Small (3-4), Medium (5-7), and Large (8-10)

MATERIALS

¼ yard light weight boiled wool or wool coating. 100% wool or wool blends are both fine. In this tutorial I'm using Lana Bollito which is 60% Viscose/40% Wool
Six inches of ¼” wide elastic
Mitten pattern

Optional
½ yard each of one or two decorative trims, e.g. twill tape, grosgrain, velvet, or jacquard ribbon.

Notions

Scissors
Pins
Matching thread(s)
Pencil

Optional
Pattern tracing paper
Rotary cutter
Clear acrylic ruler
Self-healing cutting mat
Glue stick (for affixing ribbon embellishment on mitten backs)

PATTERN NOTES

All seam allowances are narrow – less than ¼ inch. The narrow seams prevent bulk inside the mittens, especially in the thumbs. The thinner your wool fabric, the easier it will be to sew. Also, a clear plastic applique foot is helpful as you sew around curves, but don't worry if you don't have one. Your regular sewing machine foot will work just fine.

Making a pair of practice mittens out of polar fleece is a good idea if you need some practice with narrow seams or if you'd like to check the pattern for sizing before cutting into expensive wool fabric. And speaking of fabric, if you can't find a fabric store near you that carries wool fabric, consider repurposing a pair of wool pants or a jacket.

I've included a pattern variation with decorative trim on the mitten backs, but let your imagination run wild.  Applique  on wool felt animals or piece the backs with more than one fabric. The options are limitless.

INSTRUCTIONS

Print out the pattern pieces and cut them out or trace with pattern tracing paper. If tracing, be sure to include the pattern markings.

Fold main fabric over, wrong sides facing, and lay out the pattern pieces.

Cut out the pattern pieces. Tip: if you have a rotary cutter and a clear acrylic ruler, use them to cut the straight lines (especially the cuff bindings), then finish cutting the rounded edges with scissors. I like to cut out the pieces without pins. If you don't feel comfortable doing this, flat-headed pins work best as they don't distort the pattern pieces as much as round-headed pins do.

If your wool fabric is thick or if you're making size small mittens, I suggest you cut out all the pattern pieces individually. Lay the fabric out face up. Cut out one palm and one fingers piece with the pattern facing up, then flip the pattern pieces over and cut a second palm and fingers piece for the other hand. The mitten back and cuff binding pieces are symmetrical so there's no need to flip those for the second mitten.

Next, cut two pieces of ¼” elastic for the inside palms according to the diagram below.

Using a pencil, mark the elastic placement on the wrong side of the palm pieces.

Skip to the next step if you are not adding ribbon decoration to the mitten backs. If you are using ribbon to embellish the mitten backs, cut strips of ribbon slightly longer than the length of the mitten backs. Position the ribbons where you want them then use a glue stick to glue the ribbons in place. If using more than one trim to create “racing stripes,” consider placing the ribbons in mirror image.

Once glued, topstitch down the edges of the ribbons. Consider increasing the stitch length for a professional-looking finish. Trim ribbon excess. Set mitten backs aside.

Match up the fingers and palm pieces, right sides facing, along the thumbs. Pin if desired.

Return your sewing machine back to regular stitch length if you changed it while sewing the trim. Take a piece of scrap wool fabric and fold it in half. Place it behind the needle but under the presser foot, using it as a leader. Using the leader will keep the presser foot flat and make it much easier to start the seam. Place the matched up mitten pieces in front of the needle, starting on the side opposite the thumb, lower the presser foot and sew a seam along the edge using a narrow seam allowance under ¼”.  It's not necessary to reinforce lock the stitches at the beginning and ends of this seam unless you wish to. Very shortly you'll be sewing another seam around the ends of these seams, holding them in place.

Sew slowly and carefully around the top of the thumb. Lower the needle and lift the presser foot and turn the fabric as needed then lower the presser foot again as you slowly sew around the curve. Repeat with other mitten pieces. Snip threads.

Now it's time to sew the elastic along the inside wrists. Line up the elastic along one end of the mitten just below the line you drew on the back of the palm piece. Anchor the elastic on each side of the palm, sewing a small seam 1/8” from the edge of the fabric. Repeat with other mitten. Snip threads.

Set your machine to a zig zag stitch. Test the width and length of the zig zag until it's just under ¼” wide and the stitch length is suitably far apart (I use my machine's default settings, width=5.0 and length=.2.0, but machines may vary). Place your leader behind then needle, then start sewing one side of the elastic, anchoring your stitches first, then stretching the elastic so that it's same length as the palm piece. Hold the fabric at both ends as you sew, keeping the elastic taut. Fix stitches again at the end of the palm. Repeat with the other mitten. Snip threads.

Once the elastic is on both palms, match up the front of the mitten (thumb side) with the back, right sides facing, mitten front facing up (palm/fingers). Pin in place, especially around the wrist where you just put in the elastic. You can't use too many pins in this step!

Set your machine back to a straight stitch and adjust stitch length if necessary. Set the leader behind your needle, place the mitten in front of the needle. Start stitching from one bottom edge around to the other side of the mitten, joining the back of the mitten to the front of the mitten using the narrow seam allowance. Sew right over the palm seams – no need to open them up. Repeat with other mitten. Trim threads. If the bottom edges of the mittens don't match up perfectly, simply even them up with your scissors.

Find your mitten cuff binding pieces. Fold them in half lengthwise, wrong sides facing. Press with steam to hold the fold.

Note: the finished mittens will have a small raw edge along the cuff. If you prefer a finished edge, machine sew a blanket stitch or zig zag stitch along one of the raw edges of each cuff binding. When you start sewing the binding on to the mitten, start with end with the raw edge.

Set your machine to a zig zag stitch again, using the same length and width as before. Keeping the mittens inside out, place the bottom edge of the mitten into the binding starting ½” away from the seam on the side of the mitten opposite the thumb.

Anchor your stitch, then slowly start zig zagging around the binding, making sure that the left side of the stitch lines up with the very top edge of the binding. Take your time and make sure the binding is sitting snugly against the bottom edge of the mitten. Once you've made the full circle around the cuff, overlap the binding and anchor your stitches. Trim threads. Bind other mitten.

Turn mittens right side out. Press mittens flat if desired.

Follow fabric manufacturer's directions when laundering, or hand wash in warm water and try flat.