A couple of years ago when I designed the Bellevue Mittens a knitter wrote to ask about how I make mitten liners (I had suggested using them for added warmth). As anyone who lives in a wintry climate knows, a single-layer mitten doesn't do much to keep out the cold and wet. I always either double up my mitts, or wear them with liners. The best of the these are made from wool felt. Last week I purposely felted Isabel's old Wheatsheaves (yep, this one!) in the washing machine and dryer until it resembled something that might fit a 5-year-old. The resulting fabric was dense and very thick, about 1/4".
Next, I traced around the mitts to make a paper pattern for the liners.
Using this I cut out 4 pieces from my felted fabric.
The liners were too thick to sew together by machine, even with my Singer Heavy Duty, so I used Gutermann sew-all thread, doubled, to whipstitch the fronts and backs together. I chose contrasting thread so the stitches would be easy to see. Once they were pulled tight, they sank invisibly into the felt.
Below you can see one mitt filled with its liner (on the left) and the other in its unlined state. I love the way the liners plump up the mitts.
Finally, here's a pic of all the stages in the making of my new liners.
