Sew Can Do: Oven Mitts

It's been a while since I've done some geek-themed crafting, but I'm back in action now and starting off a new month with this project: Trekkie Oven Mitts.

They're full insulated, have easy slip-on hand pockets and of course, the full Star Trek character effect:

My Dad is a huge Star Trek The Next Generation fan, so when I stumbled across these fabrics I couldn't resist buying them. He does a lot of grilling and oven cooking, so new mitts seemed right up his street. This print's got the classic catch phrase for Captain Picard and his Number One, Will Riker:

and this awesome print had the full cast:

FYI, these oven mitts could be done in any motif/print, so if you're not a Trekkie or sci-fi fan, they'll work just as well with any other theme.

Here's how to make them....

Materials:

- Two 1/2 yards of cotton fabric (these Star Trek prints are by Camelot Fabrics)
- 1/4 yard Insul-Bright

- 1/4 yard Cotton batting

- Shears/rotary cutter, pinking shears

- Heavy duty needle + hand sewing needle

- Small clips/clothespins

- Paper & pencil

- Optional: walking foot

I started by drafting a basic pattern. I folded a piece of paper and cut it to be 4 inches wide by 11 1/2 inches high. I rounded the top corner using a plate about 2 1/2 inches from the top. Opened it up and oven mitt pattern was now ready.

I cut out pairs from both fabrics, batting and insulating fleece.

For the hand pocket, I also cut an extra pair from the Star Trek TNG Badges in Black, but made each 2 1/2 inches shorter and cut them with the fabric folded, so that the fold is the straight bottom (this makes for super easy pockets):

Now it's time to layer all the bits together:

Since this is a pretty thick stack, I used clips all the way around instead of pinning:

I stitched all the way around with a 1/4 inch seam allowance, leaving a several inch gap on one side for turning. I highly recommend using a walking foot when sewing this many layers. It really keeps the fabrics from shifting.

I trimmed the seam allowances with pinking shears. It's quicker and just as effective as clipping into curves and there's no danger you'll clip through your seam:

Then I turned each one right side out and slipstitched the openings closed by hand. These were a great birthday surprise gift and are sure to get my dad's cooking to boldly go where no one has gone before. Yes, that was super corny, but I couldn't resist! Now, I'm feeling the geek craft vibe again, it's time to think up some other geektastic projects...

With chillier weather on the horizon, more piping hot food is definitely in order around our house. Being a slightly geeky household we can't have the usual boring oven mitts, so I made these Toasty Ghosty Oven Mitts.

The design was pretty simple. I was inspired by the awesome Pac-Man-esque print fabric (Smirk Ghost Geo by Kyla May from Timeless Treasures). I made the overall shape of the mitts echo the shape of the ghosts with the curved top and wavy end & cut 4 pieces. I also cut the same number of pieces from both cotton batting and Insul-Fleece. Then I cut two other folded pieces for the pocket section that were a few inches shorter with the folded part facing the wavy end.

I sandwiched the layers with the right sides facing and the Insul-Fleece and cotton layers on top and sewed them all together, leaving a two inch gap for turning. I trimmed the seam allowances & clipped around the curves and turned them right side out. Then I ladder stitched the openings closed.