Patchwork Oven Mitts

Over the weekend, I made some oven mitts for my grandmother’s friend. There are about a million different oven mitt tutorials out there on the internet, but my friend, Kim, made this one recently, so that’s the one I went with.

This one is by Raechel Myers, and comes with a .pdf file to cut out your oven mitt pattern piece. This is one of the easiest projects I have done in quite some time. I could use some oven mitts for our new house, so I will be making a set for myself, too. If I had not done a patchwork mitt, I probably could have finished this in about an hour or two, very satisfying!

 

Fabric – I used one Tula Pink Nest charm pack given to me from my lovely friend. I cut the charm pack into 2.5″ squares. I used 3/4 of the charm pack for the outside of both mitts. For the inside of the mitts, I used a black and white polka dot print. The instructions call for Insul-Bright, but I didn’t have quite enough, so instead I used 2 layers of Warm and Natural batting that I had hanging around. My grandma always uses a skinny little dishcloth to take things out of the oven, so I figured, well, 2 layers of batting must be enough! 🙂

 

Pattern Pieces – When you access the .pdf file in the instructions, you will print out 2 pages, which you cut and tape together to make one pattern piece. Very easy.

Illustrations/Instructions – There are lots and lots of pictures to go along with the instructions. The mitts are quilted, so when you are assembling them, you layer the inside fabric, the batting, and the outer fabric, sandwiching them together. Then you’ll be sewing on top of all 3 layers, in whatever pattern you choose. I just made some curlicues to keep it quick.

After I finished, I noticed I sort of by-passed some of the later instructions that ask for you to trace the mitt on the quilted fabrics, and then sew on top of the traced line to create the seams. I traced my lines, cut out the mitt, and then sewed a 1/4″ seam. Actually, I’m sort of glad for the mistake because this boo-boo makes the mitts fit my hands (well, I know they aren’t mitts for me, but gives me an idea for the next set) really nice (they don’t feel loose at all). I prefer the closer fit, especially around my wrists. My husband tried the mitts on, and he did say they were kinda tight (but let me tell you, he doesn’t do the cooking ’round here!).

One change I made, after I had quilted the first set of fabrics for the mitts, is that, instead of using an 11″x14″ piece of fabric for the subsequent ones, I used 9″ x 13.5″ (since I pieced mine, patchwork-style, I discovered that this smaller piece ended up with less waste…also it saved me time, since I didn’t have to piece half as many squares). If you’ve been reading my blog for a little while, you know I am all about being stingy with the fabric, lol. I do, however, think the larger piece of fabric would be helpful if your fabric should shift a little while you are quilting it.

Since it was a curved seam, I clipped into the curved edges (which is most of the mitt) every 1/2″ (making a cut into the seam, but being careful not to clip your stitching) just out of habit. I notice that the instructions didn’t call for this, but her mitts look really nice, so I guess it doesn’t matter.

 

Conclusion – Super project to have in your arsenal. Makes a great last-minute gift, or something to pretty up your own kitchen. Good beginner project…learn how to quilt, sew curved edges, and make and sew on bias binding.