Smitten Mittens
Are Seasons Even a Thing When You’re a Knitter?
Being new to sewing I don’t yet consider myself a “sewer”. Is that even a word? I guess seamstress or tailor is better…but yea we’re more enthusiast level not pro status. Anyway, I tried a new project which I’m calling Smitten Mittens.
What are smitten mittens? Well, seeing as how my son is 7 months old and way too small for the smallest pair of mittens that Costco was selling (bless Costco’s heart for indulging in my rushing of every season), I tried my hand at making a (thumbless) pair of mittens for Fynn.
Smitten = “super small adorable little thumbless” + “Mitten”
So I guess the mitten is redundant but necessary for SEO purposes. I guess I could call them Smitten Baby Mittens.
Drafting the Pattern for Fynn’s Smitten Mittens
In my newly developed fabric stash (very similar to my yarn stash), there is an adorable constellation jersey that I’ve been really eager to work with. Since I have a lot of it, I figured a little bit of fabric for an attempted itty bitty pair of thumbless mittens wouldn’t be a total loss if they didn’t work out.
So Fabric, check.
Next step was to grab the baby. Seven month olds are incredibly wriggly little things and very hard to pattern. I did manage to gently hold his little hand to paper long enough to trace around it. After doing so, I doubled up the paper to make it thick enough to easily trace around.
Round 1: Not at total failure, but pretty much a failure.
While in my dreams the first version was going to turn out. Because why not? Only about two months into sewing, so I should be able to start pattern making right??? That said, there was a sneaking suspicion that this would be a failure and it pretty much was.
I had envisioned this little cuff around the mitten to hold them on, but forgot these pesky little things called seam allowances. So while the Smitten Mitten 1.0 was small enough to fit his little hand and stay on, it was difficult to get on and off. And I don’t want to snag a little finger.
Also, my “seam allowance” plus the cuff made for an awkward little shaped mitten. So back to the drawing board.
After the first mitten, I realized that I was putting the cuff onto the mitten backwards, so that the seam ended up on the outside. Now I realized that when you match the cuff to the mitten, the wrong side should be showing – this way when you fold them back over, the seam for the cuff is on the inside where it should be. I didn’t repeat this in the next version but it’s a learning I’ll take forward with me in my sewing journey.
Round 2: Close to a success!
In my second attempt, I made the tab for the seam allowance around the base of the mitten wider, and made the band for the actual cuff longer. This gave me a little bit that would overlap, and close with my new favorite: Snaps!
I’m not sure if it’s because he always has his hands in little fists, but the Smitten Mittens 2.0 still seem a bit big. I’m not super sad about it because it gives his fingers room to move around – and at this age that brings him joy.
I might add another snap to make the band more adjustable and able to be tightened, so I can tuck them under his sleeves. This will help them stay in place but also keep his little wrists warm.
Why Does a Seven Month Old Need Mittens?
Fynn’s hands and feet are always freezing. Now that it’s officially Fall here in Pennsylvania, the temps are getting to that point where if you’re going to be outside for a bit, you can feel chilled. But its not too cold to keep you indoors yet.
As a family we love to be outside. We love to have camp fires this time of year, and Fynn loves to watch the flames dance around and be outside. But we want to do this responsibly, so itty bitty baby mittens were a thing.
Couldn’t I find a Pattern for Baby Mittens?
You mean like this one? Of course I could! There are even baby mitten knitting patterns. But that takes the fun out of it for me…I guess when I say fun, I actually mean challenge. Failing and then having to go back, and then still feeling like you didn’t totally nail it isn’t a ton of “fun” but it was time well spent and I grew a lot!
Want to make your own Smitten Mittens?
Grab: Paper, Fabric, a Baby, and some sewing supplies.
How to make your pattern:
I like to use cardstock and have a bunch of it left over from other craft projects. Grab a sheet of your paper and lay it on a hard surface, somewhere where you can hold a squirmy baby. Place the paper on the surface (table worked great), lay their hand on the paper, flat and with a bit of room for a tab/cuff. And trace around this.
It will look almost like a circle, with a little gap for their wrist. On either side of this gap measure about 1/4 an inch and draw a line down. Here’ you are creating a tab that is 1/4 inch tall so that you can attach the mitten to the cuff.
Cut out Your Smitten Mitten Pattern. I like to trace this again on another sheet of paper and glue it together to make it easier to transfer this pattern onto paper.
Measure the tab at the base of the mitten. Now double this and add an inch. This will be the length for the cuff of your mitten. Mark this on another piece of paper and measure out three inches in width. Cut this out. If you used the doubling method for thickness repeat that here with the cuff.
Making your Smitten Mittens:
Trace these on your fabric and cut them out. You’ll need two mittens and one cuff.
Match up the mittens with right sides facing each other and sew around the edges. Turn this right side out and admire your work.
For the cuff, fold it in half with right sides facing, and sew down the length of the fabric. Then sew down the edge of one side of the cuff. Turn this right side out as well.
Finish off the other edge of the cuff by turning the raw edges in and sewing.
Take the edge of your cuff that has the seam, and match it up against the bottom of your mitten. leave about 1/4 inch, and begin sewing the cuff to the mitten. Leave about 1/4 inch free at the other end of the cuff.
Now, the choice is yours whether to add a button or a snap to finish the Smitten Mittens!
