Mirror Pattern Gloves

Mirror Socks (10).jpg

This project is a fun intro-to-sewing for little kids, and also helped drive home some recent lessons on mirror imagery that Travis and I have talked about lately.

To make the gloves, you’ll need a long pair of socks. I had Travis put his forearms at the ends, and traced a wide L shape where his fingers and thumb would go.

Mirror Socks (1)

Cut off and discard the sock above this L.

Mirror Socks (2)

Fold the sock inside-out and do a basic running stitch (in, out, in, out) to attach the two sides, up to where the thumb is. Honestly, I am no seamstress: here is my hack job of a running stitch.

Mirror Socks (4)

But Travis loved helping thread a plastic needle and make a few practice threading motions.

Mirror Socks (3)

Put the sock right-side out again and try it on for size! Repeat with the other sock to make your second glove.

Mirror Socks (5)

We wanted to decorate our “mirror image” gloves with felt stickers but the only ones I had were Christmas-themed! So perhaps he can pull these out to wear around the holidays.

Mirror Socks (6)

As he placed each sticker, he thought hard about what would make a mirror image. Should the blue sticker go to the left or to the right?

Mirror Socks (7)

He quickly got the hang of it. And loved wearing the fingerless gloves once the project was complete!

Mirror Socks (8)

Stamped Garden Gloves

Stamped Gloves (6)

As camp season comes to a close, we’re thinking about gifts to thank Travis’s counselors for a wonderful few weeks in the sun. In keeping with all that outdoor time they’ve spent with your children for the summer, consider these kid-painted garden gloves as a parting gift!

To make the project extra fun, we bought puffy fabric paints in pretty pastels, and instead of using paintbrushes, we turned pencil erasers into our tool of choice.

Stamped Gloves (1)

Squeeze out the paints onto a paper plate.

Stamped Gloves (2)

Dip a pencil eraser in a color, and stamp onto the gloves.

Stamped Gloves (3)

Travis made a set decorated with multi-colored dots.

Stamped Gloves (5)

Meanwhile I showed him a slightly more deliberate method of painting: purple dots in bunches of three to be purple grapes. A little brush of green paint for the leaves completes the look. Older kids will love making this version.

Stamped Gloves (4)

To present as a gift, simply wrap up the gloves with a seed packet of herbs and some twine. They would make a wonderful hostess gift for any summer friends you visit, as well.

Stamped Gloves (8)

Missing-Mitten Puppets

Mitten Puppets (7)

We loved this suggestion from our December issue of High Five magazine! What parent of small children doesn’t have an odd mitten or two lying around? Kids always seem to be losing just one of a pair. To prolong the fun, I also purchased a cheap three pack of gloves, so our imaginations could run wild with puppet making. Although mittens would have been ideal, gloves worked just as well for our new puppet friends.

First, we followed the two suggestions from High Five. An old yellow glove received orange thread as a mane, which Travis loved gluing to the fingertips.

Mitten Puppets (1)

We added googly eyes and felt pieces for the nose and mouth. Black thread was perfect for little whiskers.

Mitten Puppets (2)

Felt ears (in pink and blue), a blue felt nose, more googly eyes, and more black thread as whiskers turned an odd blue glove into a mouse. Squeak!

From there, I left Travis’s imagination take over. We had a very abstract elephant covered in orange thread and yellow felt, shown here in the foreground:

Mitten Puppets (9)

He next asked to make a porcupine, so I got out “quills” from brown felt and Travis added a pom pom nose.

Mitten Puppets (5)

Then he decided we needed a black cat, with pink felt ears and facial features. Travis insisted that the cat needed a sparkly pom pom, too.

Mitten Puppets (6)

Then of course it’s time for a puppet show!

Mitten Puppets (11)

What color mittens do you have on hand to turn into animals? Please share ideas in the comments!

Mitten Puppets (8)