Up cycled Mittens

While this post isn't about cooking with a toddler, it is an activity I have been doing with Zara that I think can be replicated easily

I have been racking my brain for some fun, do-it-ourselves projects to give to people for the holidays. I had come across making mittens out of an old sweater, and decided to tweak the instructions so Zara could help me make them.

I want to preface this with the fact that I can't sew. I can move a needle and thread in and out of cloth in a basic manner and I am a beginner knitter. So, no big challenges there.

I went to our local thrift shop and found an incredibly ugly 100% wool sweater. The colors were actually red green and white in a Nordic pattern. I wanted wool because if someone washed these mittens they would semi-felt and could be stretched back into shape. So I washed the sweater to see if it would shrink (obviously on low heat or delicate to do what I could to stop shrinkage). Then against the arm seams I traced my hand stretching out the thumb and let Zara carefully cut out the pattern. Be careful, you want to make sure you are cutting through the entire arm fabric to get two sides of one glove. If you cut along a seam, then you already have a finished 'side' that you won't have to stitch together. Do this with both arms to get a set of mittens, leaving the middle portion of the sweater for another project, or more mittens.

We then set the pieces aside and unraveled the sweater bits we weren't using for another project.

Using the longer pieces of yarn you have unraveled and a plastic tapestry needle, have your child thread the needle. They are huge and it's a perfect threading motor skill to teach! Once threaded start stitching together the pieces. I cut off the cuffs if the sweater wrists and stitched those as the cuffs of the mittens. It didn't take that long, and my first pair are a little wonky, BUT they will be nice and warm, and a great up cycle project to do with your toddler!