Christmas Felt Craft

“Thumbs in the thumb-place,

Fingers all together!”

This is the song

We sing in mitten-weather.

Marie Louise Allen

Every year, I give each of my students a Christmas gift. Usually, it is an ornament I made. This year, I wanted to do something a little more practical, but still wanted it to be “crafty” and personalized. There were a few inspirations for this year’s gift. First was the above poem. It was the selection one of my students memorized this year for our annual poetry recital.

Secondly, I have been reading Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder to the 1st graders and recently got to the Christmas chapter. The beauty of simplicity shines through this line. “In each stocking, there was a pair of bright red mittens. There was a long flat stick of red and white striped peppermint candy, all beautifully notched along each side. They were all so happy they could hardly speak at first. They just looked with shining eyes at those Christmas presents.”

Thirdly, with the weather turning colder, I’ve been giving the reminder before each recess to bundle up in coats, hats, and gloves before going outside. I actually began to wonder why I hadn’t thought of mittens before! I ordered solid colored children’s mittens in bulk and got out my stash of felt scraps and embroidery thread. I had made felt ornaments a long time ago so I had an idea in my head of what they should look like. I traced out a few shapes on paper to make quick patterns. Any decorative stitches I made on the felt first before attaching the felt to the mitten with a blanket stitch. This minimized knots and loose threads that might be uncomfortable or catch on fingers.

I wish I could show the picture of all my students dressed up for our Christmas party wearing their mittens. =) I hope they’ll get a lot of use.