Sweater Mitten Tutorial

I had a request for a tutorial on how to make my new favorite item, the recycled sweater mittens.  Here goes; if I'm not clear on any point, please leave a comment and I'll be happy to come back and clarify.

The pattern is very simple, only three pieces: a top side, a lower bottom (with thumb) and an upper bottom (also with thumb).  The two under sides get sewn across, making a center palm seam which also encompasses the thumb, giving it free movement.  Then the flat underside gets sewn to the upper side, pressed, turned and pressed again.

There are loads of similar patterns online.  Since I don't have a printer at home, I just browsed the internets for ideas, then made my own pattern based on the shape of a pair of mittens I had.  The only odd part was getting that palm seam placement, but it worked.

This looks better with a dark or patterned sweater - the palm seam is very obvious on this light green, but then again, I want it to be obvious so you can see what I'm doing.  So there.

The two most important things you need for these mittens are a wool sweater, which either you have felted or some helpful thrift store donor has felted for you, and a very hot steam iron.  Steam is crucial in getting shape to your mittens, and also for getting the seams flat enough.  You don't need any special equipment; this might be easier and/or neater with a serger, but I don't have one.

Cut the upper side and the lower under side pieces, using the band of the sweater.  This will make the cuffs of your  mittens.  I like to cut them a little longer because I like my mittens to fit snugly up under my sleeves.  You may have to adjust the width of your band depending on its stretch; it won't likely be too tight, but it may be too loose and you may have to bring it in.  Cut two top sides, which will be identical, and two under sides, which will be left and right.

If you're making more than one set (you can generally get two sets from a sweater, if not three - but that's difficult; I have a hard time finding plus size wool sweaters), cut all those band pieces first.  The upper part of the under side can be cut from another part of the sweater.  I generally use the sleeves for this, since I try to get a stuffed animal or something from the remaining sweater body.  Greedy or thrifty, I'm not sure which.  The uppers are also cut left and right, following the grain of the sweater.

Press everything so that it's nice and flat.  Then pin your two undersides together at the center palm seam, from the base of the thumb across to the inside edge of the hand.  Stitch from one side to the other, taking care to give yourself a nice sharp corner where the palm meets the thumb.  Trim the seam, zigzag it for security and then press it, on hot, with the seam and the thumb facing up.

Pin the under side to the upper, thumb side facing up.  Pin your way around the curve of the mitten until you get to the thumb area.  Making sure that the edge of the thumb seam is caught in the side seam, but that the thumb itself is still flexible, pin all the way to the bottom of the band.  If you can, gingerly fit your hand inside the inside-out mitten to check the fit of the band.  If it needs taking in, it's easier to do it now.

Stitch around the mitten, following your pins.  Again, trim the seam and zigzag it, then press it again.  Turn the mitten right side out, reshape as needed, and steam it one last time.

And there you have it - warm woolen mittens made from someone else's discards.  Suddenly, putting that sweater in the hot dryer with your jeans might no longer be quite the tragedy it once was.

Happy making!  I'd love to hear about your results.

Almost ready

So much for sewing book reviews, or anything else. Everything has gotten sucked into the pre-vacation vortex.

The coat is relined, and I'm glad I could justify some sewing in the vacation madness. There would be a photo but the camera's on the charger, just in case I can't find the electrical adapter before we leave.

Once the laundry was done, I took some "me time" and headed off to the workroom with Lily in tow. She knows I'm going away; she's clinging tighter than usual.

What did we work on tonight, while someone else was supposed to be packing and instead was sleeping on the couch, snoring like something escaped from a zoo? (He's got a head cold, oh joy to travel with, oh joy to sleep in the general vicinity of, oh joy).

Welt pockets. After I mentioned my ongoing fear of welts earlier this month, and Carolyn took it up, asking sewists what techniques they feared, turns out I'm so not alone. Many, many of you fear the welt, and with justification. However . . .

I made one. And while it's not perfect, it's the closest I've come yet, and I can see light at the end of the tunnel. Best of all, I can see where I went not-quite-right, and it's fixable on the next one. It was mostly a supplies issue, which I have already rectified.

How did I do it, you ask? Well, in response to Carolyn's post, Ann of Gorgeous Fabrics re-posted a welt pocket tutorial of hers that had appeared in Threads - an issue I didn't have, or this whole welt pocket hyperventilation might have been a non-starter.

I can't get into the whole process now - and Ann says it so much better anyway, right here, that there's really no point. I'll post photos of my samples when I get home, but for the time being, get yourselves over to Ann's blog, read the tutorial, and practice, practice, practice!

With the right instructions, all things are possible.

Sleeve Placket Tutorial

Because you asked for it. I haven't tried writing out the steps for some of these things before, and for the life of me I can't find the sewing reference I got this from (other than knowing it was one of my old ones), so here goes.

First, your sleeve. There'll be a mark on the pattern piece for where and how long to cut the opening where the placket will be inserted. Note the measurement of the opening, because you'll need it when cutting your placket pieces.

I don't have any set-in-stone measurements for the placket - depending on what you want and where you're going with the shirt, it could vary. It's generally about 6 1/2" long for a man's shirt.

The under-placket will be the length of the opening, plus 1/4". The width can also vary, but I like 1 3/4." Wide enough to make a statement, not so wide it's showy. On a woman's shirt, you could probably go narrower, though I haven't tried it yet.

The second piece, the overlap, is going to be about 2 1/2" wide. As far as height, it needs to be 1/4" higher than the top of the finished placket, which is to say the peak or square over top of the opening, where you stitch to hold the whole shebang together. Another 2 to 3" is safe to work with. If it looks like too much when you pin it, then just shift the excess down to the bottom. You can always cut it off later.

For the overlap, fold it to the shape you want - see the first photo for what I did, which was the point construction. Leave 1/2" of the overlap the same height as the underlap (1/4" will be for the seam and the other 1/4" will be for turning the fabric over the seam). Before pinning the pieces to your sleeve, iron 1/4" seam allowances on the outside of both pieces and the top of the underlap. You won't want to do it after you sew; it'll be a complete pain. And shaping the overlap then will be impossible.

Easy to remember - the narrow underlap is for the narrower part of the sleeve; the wider overlap is for the wider part of the sleeve. For the first step, you're going to pin the pieces to the opening, right sides of the pieces to the wrong side of the sleeve. Stitch 1/4" from the edge and press.

Starting with the underlap, fold it out through the opening and over so that it covers the raw seam you just sewed. Pin it and stitch. The second photo is the the wrong side of the sleeve, with the underlap pressed over the seam, but not yet folded through the opening.

The third photo is the right side of the sleeve with the underlap folded out, ready to be stitched.

Next, on to the overlap. Fold it out through the center (the fourth photo shows the overlap pulled through the center, but not yet folded back or pinned into place over the underlap) and get it settled into position on top of the underlap.

Once you have the overlap secured on top of the under, press it nice and flat, pin it with more pins than you think necessary, and sew the box (or triangle, or whatever) at the top, making sure that you catch the top of the underlap in your seam. The fifth photo is the finished placket from the right side. Go slowly around the top of the placket - it's a little hard to judge the point sometimes, especially with a totally inadequate sewing machine light.

At this point, if you're going to put a buttonhole in the placket, you should do it You can, of course, add the buttonhole after the sleeve is sewn up and the cuff is attached, but there are a few more contortions involved.

The sixth photo is the finished placket from the wrong side. See how neat a finish this gives? I admit, I don't always obsess about the inside of my garments, but since my shirts are usually worn by someone else, I'll go a little further because I expect him to show them off . Besides, he spends a lot of time with his sleeves rolled up and the underside of the placket shows.
Here's the final shirt sleeve, cuff attached, topstitching done, buttons and buttonholes complete. I copied the pleating detail from one of his Italian shirts, which has 2 pleats on the overlap side and one small pleat on the underlap side. I didn't make my sleeve any wider, just tweaked the size of the existing pleats to make it work.

At the end I've included photos of a shirt I made him several years ago. The outside looks pretty good (though look at that soft and squishy interfacing; that was obviously pre-Pro-Woven) but the inside really shows the messiness at the top of the placket where there's just no way to turn the (cut-on) underlap and keep it flat when you sew on the separate overlap.

I'll admit, this is a longer method than the one piece placket, but it's one of those times where the extra steps give you a better result and actually take less time in the long run because once you get comfortable with this, it goes pretty quickly and if you press and pin everything before stitching, there aren't many ways to really go wrong. The top of the overlap gives a professional, clean finish, and you can personalize it by making it square, diagonal or whatever.

I also like the two piece placket because, as here, I can use two different fabrics. If I were using a stripe, this is where I'd turn it horizontal, or cut it on the bias for some interest.

Let's face it, a man's shirt is a man's shirt is a man's shirt. All that saves it from complete ordinariness is fabric choice and your level of finishing. This is a step up from most pattern instructions, and I feel like it's definitely taken my shirtmaking to another level. I've read quite a few books and every one has their own take on how to do this. While I love David Page Coffin's shirt book and think that overall he walks on water, this is still my preferred way of doing a sleeve placket.

Here's hoping that although long-winded, this makes sense. If you try it, please let me know how it turned out.