Thru-Hiker Fleece Mitten Pattern Comments.

I haven’t made fleece mitts but used the Thru-Hiker pattern for shell mitts and that worked well. Comments:

1. +1 Delmar’s remark about scaling for hand size.
2. I gave up on zig-zag for the elastic after the first pair. I make fabric tubes as long as the wrist pieces are wide and bar tack the ends of shorter pieces of elastic inside the tubes. Then sew the tubes onto the mitten pieces … stitch both edges of the tube. Much better elastic action that way.
3. I’ll be trying Lance Marshall’s pattern to see if the curved and angled thumb articulation works better than straight across.

Just looked at Marshall's pattern– they'd certainly look more professional with the curve, I think, but more than that, it looks like the thumb articulation of the Marshall pattern is more natural, an "across palm" motion rather than the light-switch up-down of the Thru-hiker pattern. You're still going to get fabric bunching up in the crook of the thumb, for thick fabric.

Very interested to know how you like the Marshall pattern, please post up.

Regards you elasticized tube–read your description thrice–still don't understand.

I liked the Marshall pattern much better than the Thru-Hiker pattern.

–B.G.–

Very interested to know how you like the Marshall pattern, please post up.
Will do.

Regards you elasticized tube–read your description thrice–still don't understand.
Yeah, I was thinking it might not be adequate as I was writing it but was short on time. I'll take a few photos while making a pair of Marshall Mitts and post a better description with the report.

This is just a shared thing about mittens out of recycled sweaters. The pattern is the same…you could do without the wool. The video is one of many that anyone can do.
http://youtu.be/P9D-CPdGi5A

And yet another. I did this for rain mitts.

Thanks for the post Delmar. I have what is at this point a huge bag of old fleece stuff that has been waiting for some inspiration.

Mark, you can have some fun mixing and matching your fleece pieces.

After making these mitts, I now realize I want a pair with a 200 wt (windblock, if I can find it) fleece back, and a 100 wt fleece palm. More comfortable in use (not as bunchy around the thumb); saving a bit of weight where it can be saved. When you're cold you tend to make a fist, so the palm fleece could be lighter than the rest.

"a pair with a 200 wt (windblock, if I can find it) fleece back, and a 100 wt fleece palm."

The ones that I made a few weeks ago had single layer 200 weight fleece on the palm, and two layers of 200 weight fleece on the back. I left the seams open between the two back layers, and I can stuff in extra insulation there if needed.

–B.G.–

That's clever.

It could even be expedient insulation, "as found," if needed.

I'll bet a lot of us would like to see a photo of that.

As I had recently reported, it used a Marshall pattern.

The fabric was the cheapest polyester fleece from Wally World.

I first made a pair out of thinner polyester fleece and gave those to a friend. Then I went to the heavier fabric, and the multiple layers worked fine.

–B.G.–

I made some waterproof overmitts many years ago, and struggled with the elastication issue a bit.

Then I reversed the problem, and simply put the lycra edging strip on the outside, as a strap running across the back of the wrist. It was simply sewn into the side seams (after pinning to find the right length to get the 'goldilocks' tension).