Chris had complained around Christmas time about our oven mitts wearing out. We've managed to survive the last six months with what we had, by either strategically placing our fingers in just the right spots so as not to burn ourselves, or else just giving up on baking altogether. It's time to change all that, though, so the girls and I made Chris some oven mitts.
The pattern we used was from Reinvention: Sewing with Rescued Materials. While we didn't do all the stencilling that the pattern describes, I found that painting the fabric was just the right thing for the girls to help out with. Making sure all had their paint shirts on and the table was covered, we set to work using potatoes, cookie cutters and apples as our stamps. We used standard fabric paint that could be found at any craft store (I think our paint came from Michaels).
To make a stamp from a potato and a cookie cutter, simply select a potato that is large enough for your cookie cutter. Cut the potato in half, then press the cookie cutter into the cut side of the potato. With the cookie cutter still in the potato, use a paring knife to trim the outside edge away from the cookie cutter. Pull the cookie cutter out and voila - you have a ready to go stamp. Paint the stamp with the fabric paint and you're off!
When it came to assembling the mitt, I found the instructions in the book needed to be tweaked. Rather than placing the pockets on top of the wool, I found the fabric needed to be sandwiched together as follows:
~ painted full-length rectangle - right side up
~ pockets - right side down
~ plain full-length rectangle - right side down
~ wool
All in all, I'm hoping the mitts can be used by all for a long time to come.
Happy birthday, my love!
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