Baby Mitts

Do you know anyone who had a Christmas baby?  Or maybe they're getting ready for the race to have the New Year's Baby?

Well, here's the perfect gift for that new little one and a great way to use up those polar fleece scraps you've been saving for something special.

Supplies

Steps:
1) Draw and cut out your pattern.  I used a circle template to help me but you could use anything round, even a large glass.

2) Fold your polar fleece fabric with wrong sides together.  Place pattern on top and cut it out twice.

You should have 4 pieces when you're all done.

3) Cut out two pieces of 1/4" wide elastic, 2" long.  You are going to sew the elastic onto two of your mitten pieces.  Measure about 1 1/2" from the bottom.  Secure one side of the elastic inside the seam allowance (which will be about 1/4").  Now zigzag across it, pulling the elastic as you go, until you can secure on the other side of the mitten.

4) Place your elasticized mitten, right sides together, on top of one of the non-elasticized mittens, and serge or sew together.  I serged mine, cutting off the edge only slightly.  If you're using a sewing machine, try a 1/4" seam allowance.

5) Turn right side out, and voila!, that's it.  No thumbs, so they're super duper simple.  If you have pinking shears you could give the bottom edge a nice finish but one of the great things about polar fleece is that you don't have to hem it if you don't want to.  It won't fray!

It's probably a good idea to add some sort of braided string that attaches to each of the mitts and loops through the baby coat arms.  I think one of the first things that gets left behind is either one mitten or one sock.

So, here's where my post originally ended as I was writing it up the other day, with some funny comments about making an adult sized pair for myself and something sarcastic about kids wearing fingerless gloves so that they can text in the cold.  But then I really started to think about it and way, way too early this morning I talked myself into thinking that maybe it wasn't such a bad idea after all.  An adult sized pair with a hole in one side to slip your thumb out of for the texters might just work...

Here's what I ended up with:



In action!

What do you think?  Could these be the next big item in my Etsy shop?!?!

I'll be posting this project at the linky parties throughout the week so make sure to check out the linky tab above and click on a few parties for more fun crafting ideas.

By the way...did you notice that I re-vamped my Inspiration Shot and Show and Tell Pages?  I think you'll be able to navigate through them much easier (and I'll be able to update them faster too!).

That's it for 2010...Have a Happy 2011!