Tag: Accessories

Mittens!

I didn’t quite get all my Christmas sewing done on time, so this year, all my kids received New Years’ mittens.

Mittens by Oliver + S, sewn by The Finished Garment.
These are the mittens from Little Things to Sew by Oliver + S. This is the extra small. So small. So cute!

The pattern is from the book Oliver + S Little Things to Sew
. I made four pair, in sizes extra-small, small and medium. They are a bit big, but in a nice way.

Mittens by Oliver + S, sewn by The Finished Garment.
Tops of the mittens.
Mittens by Oliver + S, sewn by The Finished Garment.
Bottoms of the mittens

As always with Oliver + S, the directions were a breeze, but I did make one major change.

Mittens by Oliver + S, sewn by The Finished Garment.
These are the small size.

I live in Montreal, where it is cold. Very cold. This week it was an icy -38° celsius (that’s about -37° fahrenheit). That is not a typo. Too cold to go for a walk. Too cold to go to the store. Too cold to go outside. Too cold for single layer mittens.

Instead I made a dual-layer mitten. I used super-soft white fleece for the inside. Then I used another grey fleece with a soft berber texture for the outside. I encased the elastic between the layers.

Irene over at Froo & Boo has some great photos on how to do a two-layer mitten with this pattern. She used nylon and PUL to make a waterproof outer layer.

I was more concerned about cold than waterproofing. The extreme cold makes everything incredibly dry, even the snow. And these mittens are cozy.

It was a little tricky sewing together the two layers, with such thick fabric and such tiny mittens, but it didn’t take long.

Mittens by Oliver + S, sewn by The Finished Garment.
Christmas loot.

The fit is great. Even with double laters, you can still pick things up.

And just a quick note about fabric requirements: the pattern calls for 1/4 yard of fabric. I bought two yards of each type of fleece. In the end, I cut out six pair of mittens, and four hats (coming soon), and still had a yard of each left over. If you aren’t sure if you have enough fabric, or are thinking of squeezing these out of scraps, these mittens take up almost no fabric at all.

Oliver + S, Little Things to Sew
Oliver + S, Little Things to Sew

If you already own this book, there is Little Things To Sew: Cover to Cover Challenge that runs until August 2014. The sew along is organized by Lightning McStitch over at Bartacks and Singletrack.

Summary

Pattern Review: Mittens from the book Oliver + S Little Things to Sew.

Fabric: Two types of polar fleece.

Sizes: XS, S, M

Sewing Level: Beginner.

Modifications: I lined the mittens in a second layer of fleece, and encased the elastic between the two layers.

Results: Great. I would recommend this pattern and plan to make more.

Mittens by Oliver + S, sewn by The Finished Garment.
Apparently, mittens are a favourite food of dinosaurs. Who knew?

Note: This post contains affiliate links.

Lunch Money Cuffs

Kid No 1 needed to bring money to school for a bake sale fundraiser. But she’s a bit young for a wallet or purse, and doesn’t always have pockets for change. What to do? This is the latest project I made for the kids.

Three cuffs ready for wrists.
Three cuffs ready for wrists.

These are the Lunch Money Cuff, which I made following Christie’s tutorial over on a Lemon Squeezy Home. It’s a nice easy tutorial and I whipped up three cuffs in an evening.

All three cuffs.
All three cuffs.

I’d love to call this stash busting, but it’s more like scrap busting. Each cuff only takes four 8.5” x 3” pieces of fabric. It’s a miracle I had even that much.

This is the Anne Kelle ladybug fabric.
This is the Anne Kelle ladybug fabric. Sorry for the bad photo.

The fabrics are all by Anne Kelle and were leftovers from some other projects. The whales were from my Whale quilt. The yellow was from my Sunshine Bug quilt. The ladybugs and cats were from a couple of Oliver + S Ice Cream Dresses I made a while ago. The velcro is the heavy-duty variety and left over from Halloween costumes. All I had to buy were the zippers.

Two cuffs in whales and ladybugs.
Two cuffs in whales and ladybugs.

With this project and another that I have cut, but not assembled, I managed to use up all of my Kona Red and Corn Yellow, and most of the two red prints. I thought I had used up all the whales as well, but then I organized my quilting fabric and found a bit more. Oops!

I didn’t make any modifications to the pattern. The tutorial says the cuffs are the right size for kids aged five and seven. It’s a bit loose on my two-year-old, but then she also won’t have any money in hers. Still it’s fun to have the same thing the bigger kids have.

Mini cuff. This one probably won't get any money in it for a couple of years.
Mini cuff. This one probably won’t get any money in it for a couple of years.

Summary

Tutorial Review: Lunch Money Cuff by A Lemon Squeezy Home.

Fabric:

  • Bright Whales by Ann Kelle from Urban Zoologie (Robert Kaufman).
  • Kona Corn Yellow
  • Red Ladybugs by Ann Kelle from Urban Zoologie (Robert Kaufman).
  • Kona Red
  • Liquorice Cats by Ann Kelle from Urban Zoologie (Robert Kaufman).

Sewing Level: Beginner.

Modifications: None.

Results: Great. I would recommend this tutorial.

This project is linked up at Make It, Wear It.