When my youngest was a toddler, he loved to put on my enormous oven mitts, so I figured he would want a set of his own. I figured right!

Recently, my dear friends asked if I could make a set for their adorable toddler. Since 1, she’s adorable, 2, I love all three of them madly, and 3, I feel more than a touch of guilt over still not finishing her baby quilt yet, I enthusiastically agreed!

Step 1: Make a template

To do this, I traced a child’s hand with a very generous margin, about 1 1/2″ all the way around. (The hand in this picture belongs to an older child, so I shrank it down a bit.) You want the thumb to be at about a 30 degree angle from the palm, and the fingers pointing straight up from the palm.

Measure your template, then add 1 1/2″ to the width and 2″ to the height to get the size of your patchwork for the outside of the oven mitt. For my template this was about 6 1/2″ wide by 8 1/2″ tall.

Step 2: Plan your patchwork

The first oven mitts I made just had fun fabric on the outside and boring fabric on the inside, but for these ones I made some simple patchwork to match the apron I made from Walk, Jog, Run by Dara Tomasson.

The patchwork was made of 2″ finished squares, so I needed pieces 6 1/2″ by 8 1/2″ unfinished, or 3 squares across by 4 squares tall. Each oven mitt needs a piece for the front and a piece for the back, so I need 4 rectangles 6 1/2″ by 8 1/2″ to make a pair of mitts. I calculated how many squares I could get from a 2 1/2″ by WOF strip and decided to cut 2 strips from each of my 3 prints, then cut each strip in half.

Step 3: Strip piece

I laid out my strip sets, then shifted the order so that each set would have a different print on top, but they would still keep the same order, then chain pieced them into pairs, and then joined the pairs to get 3 sets of 4 strips, about 20″ by 8 1/2″.

Step 4: Sub-cut and piece

Press the seams so that they will nest, then sub-cut the strip sets to 2 1/2″ by 8 1/2″ units. Combine one unit from each set to make four 6 1/2″ by 8 1/2″ rectangles.

Step 5: Make a hanging loop (optional)

Cut a strip 1″ by 4″ for each oven mitt. Press in half lengthwise, open, and press edges in toward the centre, making a 1/4″ by 4″ piece. Edge stitch just inside the open side.

With one patchwork rectangle right side up, measure 1″ from the long side, along the bottom edge. Pin both ends of the hanging loop to the measured point, at a 45 degree angle toward the outer edge of the rectangle.

Step 6: Attach the lining

For each mitt, cut 2 rectangles of lining fabric, the same width as your patchwork and 1″ shorter. (If you’re ok with a bit more wasted lining fabric, you can save some time by using one larger strip to line all your pieces.) Sew to the bottom of your patchwork using a 1/4″ seam allowance, backstitching over the ends of the hanging loop, and press toward the lining.

Step 7: Prepare the insulation

If you’re making the oven mitts just as a cute dress-up piece for your little one, you can use whatever batting scraps you have around, but I wouldn’t put it past a toddler to copy what their grownups do in the kitchen, so I wanted my mitts to be the real deal. I used 2 layers of Insul-Bright, shiny sides together.

Cut out the batting to the size and shape of your template. Cut a back and a front for each mitt.

Lay the batting on the wrong side of your patchwork piece, leaving 1/2″ between the straight, bottom edge of the batting and the seam with the lining. Center the batting horizontally, leaving about 3/4″ to each side. Make sure that your batting is flipped for the back side of the oven mitt; the two halves should be mirror images.

If you made a hanging loop, line up the non-thumb end with the edge of the loop.

Step 8: Secure the layers

Lightly run a glue stick about 1″ away from the batting. Add a few dabs of glue on the middle of the lining. Then fold the lining up over the batting. Press with a warm iron to set the glue.

Sew a basting stitch 3/4″ outside the edge of the batting. If desired, quilt through the layers to secure the batting in place, avoiding the very edge of the fold. Try to have your quilting start and stop outside the basting stitch line. Note: dense quilting will decrease the insulating ability of the oven mitt.

Step 9: Finish the mitt with a French seam

Place the two halves of the mitt together, lining sides together, with the batting pieces lined up. Pin all the way around the mitt, just outside the basting stitches.

Use a short stitch length to sew a seam half way between the basting stitch and the edge of the batting, backstitching at the beginning. Near the corner where the thumb meets the rest of the hand, get closer to the edge of the batting (1/4″ away). Backstitch at the end.

Trim 3/16″ to 1/8″ outside the seam. (Note: don’t cut off the hanging loop!) In the corner of the thumb, snip the corner just up to the seam without cutting through the seam. Quickly press the seam allowance, then turn the oven mitt inside out. Use a chopstick or stiletto to push the seam all the way out, then press flat.

Backstitching at the beginning and end, sew right beside the batting. Turn right side out and trim any stray threads that might be poking through the final seam.

You’re done! An oven mitt with a nice, tidy finish on the inside!

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I hope you enjoyed this tutorial! It was part of the Christmas in July Pattern Parade! Please check out the other blogs in the parade to see some more ideas to kick start your holiday gift-making list!

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