How to Sew Your Own Oven Mitt

If you use your oven frequently, you probably use oven mitts quite a bit, and you may have had some trouble finding one that fits and is also sufficiently heat proof. Making your own is the best way to make sure your mitt fits, prevents burns, and also matches your kitchen décor.

Start by purchasing about half a yard of heat resistant fabric in a print or color that goes well with your kitchen's motif. You will also need insulated padding, like the ones featured on this page. You will also need a few sheets of white paper, a ruler, a marker, straight pins, a pair of sharp scissors, and a sewing machine.

Places your left hand down flat on one sheet of paper, with the fingers together and the thumb lying at a 45 degree angle from the index finger. With the marker, trace around the basic shape of your hand, including about 2-3 inches of the wrist, creating a mitten shape on the paper. Use your ruler to measure a second line that is 5/8 inch larger than the original tracing. Place another sheet over the first and trace around only the outer line.

Cut out the "hand" you've drawn. This is your oven mitt pattern. You can create additional copies or just use the same piece of paper for each cut. You will need to pin the pattern and cut out 2 thicknesses of the fabric and 2 thicknesses of the insulation material for each oven mitt you are creating. Half a yard of fabric should make at least 2 oven mitts.

When everything is cut out, line up the pieces of each oven mitt in a stack with a piece of insulation on the bottom, then a piece of fabric facing right side up, topped by a piece of fabric facing right side down, followed by the other piece of insulation material. Pin the pieces together. Roll up one piece of fabric and insulation from either side of the wrist opening to create a hem and pin down. Beginning from one edge of the wrist, sew around the hand outline through all 4 thicknesses until you reach the other edge of the wrist opening. Next sew down the wrist hems. Remove pins. Flip the oven mitt right side out. Note: You may need to leave the presser foot of your sewing machine in the up position in order to sew the mitt together.