Here's a fast, easy, and inexpensive way to keep your fingers from falling off.
Up-cycled Felted mittens
Materials:
Old wool sweater
Pillow case, safety pin, washer &dryer
Sharpie
Sewing machine, thread
I went to my local Goodwill and went through the all of the sweater racks looking for 100% wool sweaters. I found about 5 for around $5 each. (Stick with 100%. I found a 6th sweater that was only 80% wool and sadly didn't felt. On a happy note, my mom gladly adopted it into her winter wardrobe.)
Any pattern will do. The first sweater I used was solid, but I think it would be cute to do a striped sweater or any other pattern.
To felt the sweaters, put them into a pillow case and safety pin it shut. This will catch all the wool that comes off of the sweater and keep it from clogging your washer's drain. Wash the pillow case in hot water, with a bit of laundry soap, on the heavy duty cycle. I ran my sweaters twice. Then, when they are felted (you can't see the knitted stitches) dry them in the dryer and you're done. Its so easy, and super fun to watch the sweaters shrink. You will be amazed. A note on this, don't fall in love with a project until you felt the sweater, as it might not felt as expected or you might not have enough material.
(My mom thinks that some of the sweaters that I felted up would make perfect winter clothing for kids. I'm going to tuck this idea away. You could buy all kinds of sweaters at Goodwill for cheap, felt them all up, save the good ones for the kids, craft with the rest. You can craft with the good ones when your kids grow out of them.)
For the mittens, cut off a section of the sleeve. I kind of eyeballed it, lining up my wrist with the cuff and cutting across about and inch above my fingers. I think its pretty clever to exploit the cuff of the sweater to use as the cuff of the mitten, though you have to been sure to buy a sweater with cuffs, not all of them do.
Next, turn the sleeve inside out, and trace where you plan to sew. Draw as round as you can for the hand part, and make sure there is room for the thumb.
next, sew along these lines.
And trim off the excess
Flip the mitten right side out, and check if its what you want. I had to make mine a bit more round, and lengthen the thumb. Its not an exact science, but you'll have some great warm mittens, with not too much effort, time, or money. I'm thinking about asking my aunt for a tracing of her two boys' hands. They live in the NE, and I'm sure could always use more winter gear, they would be so easy to make as gifts.
Enjoy! and happy crafting!
