At our little farmstead, mittens are like socks. One day you have both mates together, and the next day one will be missing. A few months into the winter, I start to pick up an extra set of mittens each time I make a trip to the store just so we have one for each hand.
While cleaning out my box of fabric, I found a large amount of fleece leftover from some projects I made for Christmas last year, and I decided to put it to good use. If I could make extra mittens whenever we needed them, then I’d never need to buy another pair.
This craft project is so easy and takes only about 10 minutes from start to finish. When you are done you will have one pair of soft and snug mittens for your little ones that are perfect for keeping their hands warm when you have to go out. You could also easily adapt this pattern to include a spot for a thumb if needed, otherwise this “pocket” baby-mittens pattern should work well.
What you’ll need:
- leftover fleece fabric
- fabric marker/pencil
- scissors
- thread
- sewing machine
- 1/4-inch elastic
Step 1
Take a piece of fleece (make sure it’s a little stretchy), and fold it in half with the wrong sides of the fabric turned to the outside. Place your baby’s hand on the fleece about 1 to 2 inches up from the edge of the fabric and trace around the hand with a fabric pencil or a marker. Make sure the pocket mitten has enough room for their fingers and has some extra on the end around the wrist so you can create a sleeve to sew some elastic into.
Step 2
Cut out the section of fabric that you just traced, and use it as a pattern to cut another set for fabric for the second mitten. Each mitten piece will look something like an oval with a flat end.
Step 3
At your sewing machine, sew each mitten together with the right sides of the fabric together. Sew around the sides and top, leaving the bottom (flat side) open. Repeat on the other mitten.
Step 4
Fold the flat side of the mitten up to create a sleeve around the end of the mitten. Sew a hem around this elastic pocket, leaving a small section open to place the elastic in.
Step 5
Wrap a piece of 1/4-inch elastic around your baby’s wrist to see how big of a piece you need, and then cut the elastic with an extra 1 to 2 inches. Thread the elastic through the sleeve that you just created, sewing both ends of elastic together so it forms a circle within the sleeve. Turn the mitten the right way out and you’re done! Repeat all steps with the second mitten.
This is a very simple baby mitten pattern that can be adapted as needed. You can also find the equally simple Easy Fleece Hat Pattern on my website.
