Cozy Blue Mitts

 

Shortly after I finished my cloak, I realized that I'd need mitts to ensure full protection from the elements. The first attempt, in scraps of a blue windowpane check wool, was something of a measure once, cut twice situation. I won't say I do it all the time, as I have grown and learned to take my time as a seamstress over the years, but I will say that I still do it often enough to keep myself both frustrated and humble. For the second attempt at cutting out my mitts, I was much more careful of my dimensions, and successfully cut out mitts in a solid blue melton wool. For linings, I used scraps from my failed short gown, a cream cotton with blue palempore print. 

I enlarged the pattern found in Costume Close Up, and because the instructions there are comparable to the instructions on a Week 8 Bakeoff technical, I used the instructions from the American Duchess Guide to 18th Century Costuming to actually put things together. Once again, I love the inclusion of photos with the written descriptions of construction. I riffed on these instructions a bit, returning to Costume Close Up for finishing details, as I opted for fully-lined mitts, rather than just a facing on the end of the mitt. 

Some of the construction tweaks I made are illustrated below. I had a lot of difficulty properly aligning the thumb hole with my first attempt. Because I had enough of the cotton lining that making mistakes wasn't a big deal, I first constructed the linings completely. After successfully placing the thumb in the lining, I used it as a template to cut the thumbhole in the wool fabric. It took some finessing, and has me wondering if I have weirdly shaped hands. This was a nice way to ensure that both inside and outside would line up perfectly when it came time to put them together.

Don't mind the cat hair. It's inevitable here.

After stitching the thumb on to the wool of the mitt, I then pressed the edges of both exterior and lining, pinning them together at the top, around the thumb, and turning under the raw edges of the side seam. Because of the stretch of the bias-cut wool, I didn't feel confident sewing down the side seam and fitting it to the lining of the mitt. It was a little time consuming, but I'm glad I did it this way. I accomplished a perfect fit and a nice smooth seam. Finally, I turned up the seam allowance at the bottom and stitched lining and fashion fabric together. 

For finishing touches, I did some decorative stitching across the back of the mitt, using the example from Costuming Close Up as my guide. It's definitely imperfect, but considering I don't really embroider ever, I'm not too unhappy. I have few notes that I will keep in mind the next time I make mitts, primarily in regard to fitting lining and fashion fabric together, as well as improving my embroidery skills.