stay-on-mittens

Here in Canada the cold weather is here to stay. And we've all had our young ones lose a mitten (or two) here and there. By the time Spring finally rolls around, you've bought about 10 different pairs of mittens and they're all missing their partner! So I wanted to share with you an easy solution to help keep those little mittens stay on in the cold winter months.

Stay-on-mittens

These mittens have a stretchy tube sewn to the opening that fits over the child's coat sleeves. Can you guess how I made them?

You can make some too - all you need is a pair of mittens, matching thread, a sewing machine, a pair of scissors and... a pair of child-sized socks! The socks need to have a fair amount of rise to them - not ankle socks.

Infant mittens and girl socks

First, cut the foot part of the sock off, and keep the top portion. If you are using knee-high socks, cut about 5-7 inches down from the top edge - leaving the top seam as a finished edge.

 

I serged all around the unfinished edges of the sock where I cut, but this is optional. 

Turn your sock tube inside-out and place it over top of the mitten so that right sides are together and that the raw edge is at the opening of the mitten. Then you can use your sewing machine's zigzag or stretch stitch to sew around the circumference of the two pieces.

Turn over the sock so that it is right-side-out again and there you have it! Repeat steps for the next one.

This should help save your little one's mittens this year, and save you money! The options are endless - think fun socks, argyle, or funky stripes!
Of course, I'm working on a 'boy' pair too and will post a picture soon.