DIY Mitten Ornaments - Knitting in the Park

How to Make the Mitten Ornaments from Joann’s At Home

A few weeks ago I was walking through the Christmas isles at Joann Fabrics and saw some adorable mitten ornaments. In a moment, my mind flashed to the left over flannel and faux fur I have from making our stockings. And then I thought through the process of potentially making them. Well, they’re now hanging on our tree, so in this post I’ll share my DIY Mitten Ornaments tutorial.

The Simple and free DIY Mitten Ornament Tutorial Knitting in the Park

What you need to DIY Mitten Ornaments

This makes 8 mittens:

Using Grandma's Thread for DIY Mitten Ornaments

Template for Mitten
Template for Mitten Cuff
1/4 yard of fabric for the outside of the mittens
1/4 yard of batting OR stuffing*
1/8 yard of faux fur fabric or other material for mitten cuffs
Ruler or Measuring Tape
Christmas Ornament Hangers or Extra Fabric for loops
Thread and Needle or Sewing Machine

Recently I was given some of the items from my husband’s grandmother’s sewing collection. For this project, I chose some thread that was included among these items.

Even though she is no longer physically living by us, she’s still with us for the holidays now! Hopefully we’ll get to see her soon when everything calms down a bit. Her health is more important than our need to spend time with her.

*For stuffing: I recommend polyfill for uniformity, but to be honest you could use anything from fabric scraps to stuffing your dog has pulled from his toys…I’ve never done the last part but have thought about it more than once.

I made 8 for my Christmas Tree – but you could also make a garland!

Mitten Template:

The exact template I used you can find here:

Little-Mitten-Template Download

A modified one that I would use in the future here:

Fat-Little-Mitten-Template Download

As I worked through the pattern, I realized there were certain places where I didn’t leave as much of a seam allowance as I thought I had.

The mittens still turned out wonderfully, but if I had to do it over again I would have made the mitten rounder and the thumb larger. Hence the second template offered.

Mitten Cuff: Measure and cut a rectangle 3 inches tall and 7 inches wide. This is pretty basic so I didn’t offer a template for it. Instead what I did was use my new cutting mat to measure and trim the faux fur fabric to the size I needed.

How to DIY Mitten Ornaments

Making the Mittens

First, you need to cut your fabric. Please note that the mitten templates that are listed here on the website include the seam allowance of about 1/4 inch. This is one of the reasons that I made an adjusted template

Fold Your Fabric in Half and trace the mitten template. Pin your fabric pieces together and cut out the outer layer of the mitten. Repeat the process with the batting.

Next, simply sew your mitten layers together. I hand sewed these as the batting got a bit thick for my sewing machine and I didn’t want to have to clean it again after the flannel. Remember to order the layers appropriately: batting, outer layer right side in, outer layer right side in, batting.

I learned that the more pins the better. Yes it slows you down having to remove them as you sew but it keeps all of the layers from shifting around on you.

Flip your mitten right side out. Take a moment to admire your handiwork on this DIY Mitten Ornament! If you are stuffing your mitten, now is the time to do sew. Then sew the bottom of your mitten shut folding the edges in.

Now it’s time for the mitten cuff

Since this is a rectangle, I didn’t provide a template. Grab your ruler or measuring tape and cut out a square seven inches wide.

If you’ve opted to stuff your mitten you may need to remeasure your mitten and adjust your rectangle accordingly.

Fold your rectangle so that the short sides are matching up, and the right sides are facing each other. Sew this edge. Then flip the cuff so that the right sides are facing out. Now match up the raw edges of the cuff.

Take your mitten and insert it into the mitten cuff. The mitten will be on the inside and the cuff will on the outside. Raw edges are lined up. Now sew around this edge to attach the cuff. Once you’ve finished sewing, turn “up” the cuff.

Finishing your DIY Mitten Ornament

If you are using more of your main fabric to make a loop, now is the time to do so. I used Christmas ornament hangers to make them invisible and draw attention to the mitten.

For the Stockings I used a 2 inch by 5.5 inch piece of fabric. I folded each of the sides into the middle, and then folded the piece in half again. This creates a tab about a half of an inch wide. Then you sew along the piece to keep its shape. Fold it in half and attach it to your mitten.

Whether you are using a Christmas Ornament hanger or a tab, sew it to the inside of the mitten cuff. It might be a little bit of a challenge if you are using faux fur fabric, but it keeps it nice and clean.