Thick old towels are suitable for making oven mitts as they provide good insulation. Here is how you can make your own oven mitts out of an old towel that probably has too many holes to be used any more. Thick towels will work better than thinner ones as they will provide better insulation to withstand heat.
- Place one palm on a piece of paper and draw loosely around it, with a big circular-like shape around the four fingers. Your four fingers should be closed together with your thumb branched out as far as possible. This will provide you with a template for your oven mitt. If you are still unconfident, you can trace the shape of an old oven mitt.
- Cut the template out and transfer it on to an old towel. Cut out four of the same designs, two for the back and two for the front. Remember to leave about an excess of 1 inch when cutting for sewing space.
- Next, transfer the same template on to a piece of foam padding. Cut out two of the exact same designs. These two cut outs will not require the 1 inch excess. Alternatively, you may also use other similar materials that may provide better insulation as padding.
- Sandwich the foam padding between two pieces of towel cut outs, ensuring that they are of the right side. Pin them down to make work easier later. Now, sew diagonal grids onto the pinned sandwich to quilt them together. Quilting the three pieces together is important to ensure that your oven mitts last longer and that the foam padding inside does not run out of place.
- Repeat for the other side.
- Once you have completed the back and front pieces, you can now put them together.
- Stitch up your mitt with the insides out so that you may flip them right side out later, leaving all the stitching and extra pieces inside.
- Remember also to stitch up the edges to avoid them from unravelling. Alternatively, you can stitch piping onto the edges for a more professional look. Additionally, you can also add in a small hoop at the end of the piping so that you can hang your oven mitts up where you can easily access them.
- If required, repeat the above steps for a pair of oven mitts.
Image Credit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ginapina/3103369410/
