The Oven Mitt Report
![](https://lizhaywood.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Report-on-oven-mitts-header-IMG_1862.jpg)
Things haven’t been going all that well in Oven Mitt Land.
To recap last week, after the oven mitt situation was declared “dire”, I resolved to make some new ones using fabric we had at home. I came up with some low/zero waste ideas, and this week I tried them out.
I had two ideas, and I started with the easiest one to sew.
This was to create a tessellating pattern for a basic mitt shape:
![](https://lizhaywood.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Oven-mitt-quest-tessellation-in-sketch-book-1024x892.jpg)
Unfortunately, it didn’t work. This is a classic example of an idea looking great on paper and failing in real life.
My oven mitt looked like a cover for an adjustable wrench!
![](https://lizhaywood.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Report-on-oven-mitts-IMG_1838.jpg)
The thumb was too narrow and the curved shape, which looks ergonomic as if one were grasping a dish, is wrong when you actually have your hand in it.
The other idea, which I really liked, was to use a single pattern piece. I loved the simplicity.
![](https://lizhaywood.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Oven-mitt-quest-idea-number-1.jpg)
This too, ended in tears. Not real tears.
![](https://lizhaywood.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Report-on-oven-mitts-IMG_1850.jpg)
It’s too big and wide at the top, and Mr H said What the???? when I showed him.
So…I had two promising ideas, I only needed one of them to work, and neither of them did (so far). My post-covid brain was too tired when I finished sewing these to think of a solution, so I left them for later.
Later….
The tessellating mitt I decided to mark as a fail and not pursue further; I can’t see the thumb width/curved hand shape working.
But while the pattern is a fail, all is not lost. I cut off the top part…
![](https://lizhaywood.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Report-on-oven-mitts-IMG_1858.jpg)
…and made it more classically oven mitt shaped.
![](https://lizhaywood.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Report-on-oven-mitts-IMG_1883.jpg)
The thumb is still a bit narrow, and so is the opening, but it might suit one of my children.
For the other mitt, I had a re-think and made a new, more tapered, pattern with a seam at the top of the fingers and thumb. It’s not zero waste, but it has pieces which can be top-and-tailed to reduce waste.
![](https://lizhaywood.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Report-on-oven-mitts-IMG_1877-with-text.jpg)
The hexagonal shape at the top of the fingers and thumb looks curved when it’s sewn, because the layers are so thick.
I re-cut the pieces from the first sample. Now it looks like this, and it fits really well.
![](https://lizhaywood.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Report-on-oven-mitts-IMG_1874.jpg)
This one I’ll finish off properly and trial it in the kitchen, and report back in a couple of weeks.
As well, I’ll repair the Harrods oven mitt to try and make it last a bit longer. It’s only the (Union Jack!) palm that’s worn out.
![](https://lizhaywood.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Report-on-oven-mitts-IMG_1897.jpg)
So, although things didn’t turn out how I thought they would, I’ll soon have two usable oven mitts.
Cheers!
Looking forward to seeing the final product
Cheers! Thanks for reading 🙂