Mood DIY: Sweater Mittens

This past week I had to fly back to my home state of Indiana, and boy was it cold! Sure, the temp had long since dipped below the desirable level in New York, but there was full-out snow and the need for gloves the second I stepped off the plane. While I always keep a pair in my pocket, I was in the mood for something fun and was glad I had picked up some sweater knit material from Mood Fabrics before I left—it sure came in handy.

So, I grabbed my little travel scissors and a needle and thread (feel free to run them on your sewing machine for extra strength), and whipped up a pair of sweater mittens in no time. Tell me what you think below.

SUPPLIES: Sweater knit material, scissors, marker, and ideally a sewing machine if you don’t want to hand stitch like I did. Editor’s note: I think Brandhyze must have scored the last of this cool sweater knit with the ribbing along the selvedges. My suggestion if your sweater knit does not have this effect is to add a wrist cuff out of contrasting knit fabric with lots of stretch and recovery.

HOW-TO: 
1. Take your rectangle of sweater material with the finished ribbed edge at the bottom, and lay it flat on the table in front of you, right side facing up. Then take the two outer edges and fold them inward until they meet at the center (Note: the wrong side will be facing you).
2. Place one of your hands down on the fabric with your thumb open an extended, and loosely trace your hand (Note: you’ll want about half an inch room around your hand).
3. Here I hand stitched around the black outline of the hand I created. But, for added security for gloves that will last several winters, I suggest quickly running them on your sewing machine.
4. Lastly….leaving at least a 1/4 inch room around the perimeter, cut out your hand figure, and then turn your gloves right side out. Presto, you’re all done!

Brandhyze Stanley is the chief voice of the award winning blog, Frugal-nomics.com; a platform designed to share with women how to live and look fabulous on a dime. A DIY girl at heart—Brandhyze has been featured on The View, The Early Show, The Today Show, InStyle Magazine, Essence Magazine, and MTVStyle. A Wilhelmina Model for over a decade, with a Business Degree from Loyola University Chicago, Brandhyze provides DIY content to the popular How-To Site, eHow; and was a Fashion & Style Writer and Video Contributor for Newsday Westchester. Brandhyze is a huge thrifter and a lover of all good deals, follow her on Twitter @MyFrugalnomics and on Facebook at Facebook.com/Frugalnomics.