Baby Mittens

My adorable niece Gia is two weeks old! She loves to put her hands on her face...

This presented a problem today when she scratched her eye! My poor sis in law Sheila was so worried and felt bad because her baby mittens don't stay on well. So in my never ending quest to be a domestic goddess, I offered to sew her a pair of mittens that drawstring with ribbon in hopes that they will stay on better.

I flew by the seat of my pants on this one and if I had it to do over again, I would make the pattern wider but hopefully they will work! I'll keep you posted once I give them to Gia.

If you would like to make a pair of your own, I created a little tutorial (more to help me remember if they wind up working and I want to make more!) but have at it!

First you wash and cut your fabric using pinking shears. I cut my fabric into 4, 2" by 4" rectangles. Next time I would go wider than 2".

Then I put the fabric together, print side facing in and cut a pattern with a rounded top.

Then I ironed up a small seam (1/4") on each of the four pieces and folded this seam up 1/2" to make a channel for the ribbon (drawstring).

Then I sewed a hem along either side of the channel. You will do this on each individual piece of fabric.

Then you can put the 2 pieces back together (print side in) and sew the edges of the pattern up to the hem of the channel. Don't sew through the channel to the end or you will not be able to thread your ribbon.

Next you should thread your ribbon through both sides of the channel. I use a safety pin to guide the ribbon through the fabric.

Next you'll want to tuck in the ends of the ribbon so you can sew the bottom edges closed. If you don't do this the ribbons will thread to the inside of your mitten (once turned right side out).

Now I used a needle and thread to hand sew the edges together (the part that connects the two pieces of fabric that was not sewed on the machine)

After hand sewing, turn the fabric right side out and VOILA!

Gia hasn't tried these yet so they could be a total bust but I'm hoping they'll work and help Sheila sleep at night!