Make Unique Winter Gloves and Mittens as Christmas Gifts

Sometimes gifts can be quite time consuming but are worth it when the final product appears. There are some beautiful and unique gifts that don't have to take days to make but are truly unique.

Make Beaded Gloves.

Every once in a while, my fascination with items, walks down the road to compulsion. One year I found cheap gloves. Cheap gloves and cheap septic safe toilet paper both rank right up there on the must have list. I had dozens of pairs. I bought them every time I saw them. Of course this was at the end of the season, but with so many bargains, I couldn't pass them up. I now had a plastic shoebox of soft fuzzy gloves for the coming year.

The idea to add beads and give them as a gift came to me in a flash one day as I cleaned out the storage room. It is so simple but there are a few things to remember.

1.Draw out your design. You will need to mirror it on the other glove; otherwise it looks like you are gifting two odd gloves. (I still have a few pairs that don't match....There's something I can do with them, but don't know what yet. How about filling each one with wrapped holiday mints and tying a bow at the top? Give them out individually to people that have helped throughout the year with a note..."Thanks for the helping hand." If you have an idea add a note to this article.)

2. Tack down a contrasting thread as a pattern. You can remove the thread once the beads are on.

3. Use a good quality thread and double knot it. Begin on the inside of the glove so the know doesn't show. Double sew heavy beads or better yet, try not to use them.

4. Keep the stitches small. Don't run a single thread through your entire design, because fingers will get caught in the thread. Start a new thread each time you change areas.

If you must use a longer chain, keep the long chains loose on the underside to allow the glove to stretch.

Get sequins, glass beads, and decorative designs of glass and metal. Use a blunt ended (ball point end) needle so you don't snag the glove. Most of all keep the design simple.

More Ideas for Stocking Caps and Mittens.

If you want to add a little flair to a simple hat and mitten combination, trim them with colorful yarn designs.

Create a design on paper that you like. You really need only three kinds of stitches, a fly stitch, a vertical stitch, and a blanket stitch. The blanket stitch is more of a border for the trim on the stocking cap. Use yarn to reproduce the colorful pattern on both the hat and the mittens.

You will need to use a crewel or needlepoint needle. A simple design of one row of vertical stitches above the V formed by a fly stitch of a contrasting color is quite elegant.

As winter approaches I am getting so excited, soon it will be time for gloves to go on sale again. Maybe I can think of something to do with all these plastic buckets and beach shovels.