Upcycled Fingerless Gloves

We actually had a (kind of) cool day this week and found myself dying to knit up some fingerless gloves from a pattern in the fall issue of Craft Sanity magazine I recently downloaded. Of course it was mid-morning when I got the urge and I was smart enough to realize there was no way I could get away with a new knitting project with the girls up and running. But my hands were still cold, and I remembered an old sweater I had laying around and decided to make my own simpler version. It only took me about thirty minutes (with photo-taking), so if you have an old sweater you could whip some up to warm your hands today!

So, get your sweater. And something to keep your little ones busy for a bit. I put this project together rather hastily so the house was in complete disarray (hence the empty laundry basket).

To keep sewing to a minimum, I decided to use the sleeves, leaving the folded side uncut. Trace around your hand, making sure to leave some room for seam allowance.

Here’s how my tracing looked (I used a water-soluble marker).

Carefully cut it out–you can use pins to hold the fabric together if you want.

Before you start sewing, I highly suggest using ball point needles made especially for sewing knits, otherwise your fabric will likely bunch up.

Pin the edges together and sew as close to the edge as possible. And make sure not to close up the finger and thumb holes! You only need to sew the “V” between the thumb and fingers and the outer edge beside the thumb.

You’ll get something like this. I snipped off a little extra on the thumb because it was a bit snug.

Before you cut and sew the second one, try the first on for fit and comfort. You may need to trim the seams to keep them from rubbing against your hand.

Now, instead of awkwardly trying to trace your drawing hand, just flip your first glove inside out and trace it on the other sleeve. If you trimmed the seam allowance previously make sure to account for that in tracing the second.

Sew the second one up and there you have it! Some cozy little gloves to keep your hands warm while you go about your day. The pair I made is definitely not high-fashion–you could pretty yours up with a little embellishment or just find a cuter sweater to begin with.

Now go clean up the mess your littles made while you were sewing away!