DIY T-Shirt Glove Tutorial

2010-01-05T15:50:00.015-06:00

It's winter time again, and what better way to start off the new year than with a DIY post for Gothic/punk gloves. This relatively easy-to-do project is great for beginners, or for those looking to add onto their alternative wardrobe. I did this project in under two hours altogether- I started very late at night and had to stop so I could sleep, but overall it wasn't that long of a effort. I also used my sewing machine, but you can very easily do this with a hand needle and thread as well. Just make sure you mark your stitches and go slowly (in which case it'll take much longer).

First off, you'll need the following supplies:

That's:

1 plain old t-shirt, any color
1 spool of thread to match your fabric
Measuring tape/ruler
Pencil/marking tool
Paper scissors
Fabric shears
Pins
Newspaper

The spool shown here is actually a contrasting color, selected for the purpose of this tutorial. As the shirt I'm cutting up for this has a few stains on it, and most of my wardrobe does not go with white, I'll be dyeing my gloves at the end of this project. For your gloves, however, I suggest going with a matching color.

Now that you have your materials gathered, make sure your workspace is clean and free of distractions. Put on some music, get something to drink, and get ready to start.

First things first, we need a pattern for your gloves. Spread out a piece of newspaper on your work surface. Make sure it's flat and even. Figure out which hand is bigger - for me, my left hand is slightly larger than my right, so I'll be using my left for my pattern.

Trace around your hand- if you have any jewelry (like I do), be sure to remove it before you trace around. If you need help tracing, get a friend or family member to help you.

This does not constitute as help, no matter what either of you thinks.

Once your hand is all traced, take your measuring tape or ruler and mark 1 inch (1") from the outline of your hand. Go all the way around the pattern.

Again, THIS is NOT helping.

Here you can see the basic outline of my pattern- I went over it with marker so it's easier for you all to see what I mean.

Continue ALL the way around the pattern, including going between the fingers. Don't mark INSIDE the outline of your fingers- go as close as you can before you run into the line.

Once you've gone all the way around, your pattern should look something like this:

Notice how it stops right where my hand stops? Add at least an inch to the hem of your gloves- a finished edge looks much better and frays much less than a unfinished one.

Take your marking tool and fill in the outer border of the pattern- connect all those little 1" marks you just made. It should create a giant puffy outline around your "hand".

Once you have it all marked and measured properly, begin cutting out your pattern.

Be careful you don't cut off any piece of your pattern, and follow the outer line. DO NOT CUT THE INSIDE "HAND" OF YOUR PATTERN. Doing so will create a way too small pattern, and you'll have to redo it all over again.

Once you're all done with your pattern, it's time to lay it out and pin it down. It goes much faster from this point, at least for me.

Get your fabric (in this case, an old t-shirt of my dad's) and lay it out. Make sure there are no wrinkles or bulges in the fabric, and if it has a certain weave to it, make certain that your pattern pieces all go the same way- if you don't, you might end up with one side going one way, and one side going the other. I made that mistake with a set of pajamas in high school once where I didn't pay attention to the pattern on the fabric, and wound up with fairies crashing into each other at my waistline. It was very embarrassing, and as I hated the pattern, those pajamas were donated to a Goodwill as soon as the school year was over.

Anyway, for the t-shirt I used, I folded it in half width-wise so it was nice and fat. I smoothed out the main part that I would be pinning my pattern to, and left the rest alone.

I placed the pattern right in the middle of the t-shirt and pinned it down. Since this is a rather stretchy material, I had to be careful with my pinning and make sure I didn't stretch the fabric and wind up with too little for my gloves. Try not to lift your fabric off the work surface, as it can goof up your pinning.

Once it's nice and pinned all around, start cutting it out with your fabric shears. The reason I recommend using two different types of scissors - one for paper, one for fabric - is that paper dulls the blades on scissors, and to cut fabric correctly and cleanly, it helps to have sharp blades.

Once it's cut out, it should look something like this:

Unpin your fabric and set your pattern to the side- you'll be needing it again. Since I used a t-shirt folded in half, I was able to pin and cut four pieces at once. Depending on what fabric you use, you may or may not have the same result. However, in the end you should have four pieces of fabric, all shaped like puffy little cloud hands.

Take two of the pieces and match them up, right side to right side. In sewing-talk, that means take the pretty sides and put them together so when you stitch the glove and turn it inside out, it hides the seams and shows off that pretty finish/color/pattern/whatever.

Next, pick up your pattern, tape measure, and your marking tool. Measure and mark 1" from the webbing of your fingers- the place where they join together.

Do this for each finger, until your pattern now has horizontal marks in between the fingers like so:

Take your paper scissors and cut a line from the dip in the pattern to the mark you just made. Don't go past that line, and don't stop before it. Get right up to it- it's important for later on.

Place the pattern BACK over the now-pinned pieces, carefully matching the edges and the fingers. Carefully, bend back the fingers of the pattern until the notches stop you. Take your marking tool and mark where exactly the notches are, until all webbing, including between your thumb and forefinger, are marked.

The markings should resemble something like this:

Those markings are to help create the fingers of your glove while you're sewing.

Set up your sewing machine with the correct tension for your fabric- since this is a generic cotton, I use the default setting, but for something more delicate or heavier, you should follow your machine's instructions. You also want to set your machine to a basting stitch- the longest stitch you can possibly make. On my model, this means pushing my stitch length meter all the way to the right. You want a basting stitch to just hold your glove together while you sew- while you make have made a pattern from your own hand, adjustments will need to be made.

Place the glove in the machine with a seam allowance of 5/8". This allows enough room for your pins to slide by if need be, and enough room for you to test the sizing of your glove.

Stitch all the way around the glove, using the basting stitch. Try to keep to the 5/8" seam allowance at all times - 10 mm on metric machines. When stitching the fingers, try to keep a 5/8" seam allowance, even if you can't see the plate. Go past the marking you made earlier by no more than 1/4", if that.

Your glove should now resemble something like this:

Remove the pins from your glove and try it on. Take note of what areas need to be trimmed down, and if you need to stitch closer in and where.

Take off the glove and VERY CAREFULLY cut down the fingers until you're just above the stitches. DO NOT CUT THROUGH THE STITCHES- this will ruin your glove. You're still trying this on to make certain the glove fits your hand correctly. It should look and feel like Mickey Mouse now, but that's only for a little while.

Try it on, wiggle your fingers more freely now, and see just where you need to stitch closer, if at all, and if the grooves for your webbing are deep enough. If you have your marking tool and are able to, mark where and how you can make the glove more tailored for your fingers.

Take the glove off and place it back in the machine. Set your stitch back to normal length, and stitch along the new seam allowance markings. You should have two lengths of stitching now, the basting and the permanent stitch.

Remove the basting stitches; clip and trim the excess seam allowance. By clipping, you cut little triangles into the curves of a seam to allow more room to move. Clipping is commonly used on bodices and areas of high fabric strain.

Take the bottom seam of your glove, turn it up 1/2". Fold it up again another 1/2" and pin; this is the bottom seam of your glove. You can either stitch this by hand, or by machine. I cheated and used my machine.

Turn the glove inside out. You now have a finished glove.

Repeat the same steps for your second glove, and you're good to go! If you want a bit more of a custom look to your glove, you can stitch edging or lace to the bottom, iron on or stitch a patch onto the back, or do what I'll be doing in a few days and dyeing them a whole new color. It's really up to you how to make your new gloves all about you- you're only limited by your own imagination.

Fashion For The Darkly Inclined

DIY T-Shirt Glove Tutorial