Keeping Mum About The Gloves...Vogue V7949

Happy Belated Mothers Day! I couldn't post this any sooner, for fear of Mum reading it - as this is all about one of her presents... and one of my first makes for her...

Mum deserves a treat! She's so generous, and always giving everything she can to everyone else, so I like to get the chance to treat her. I'm not sure why I picked gloves - maybe because she's often taking care of dogs, walking in the cold... whatever my first thought was, I found this pattern and it seemed rather straight forward, so I thought I'd do some research on it.

I looked all over the internet for a review on this pattern and couldn't find ONE. I mean, NOT ONE REVIEW... why? I'm so used to reading reviews... maybe this is a relatively new release? Maybe no-one has found anything worth saying about it? Maybe the fact they're so easy to make means there is nothing to add to the pattern envelope instructions? Whatever the reason - I'm going there... this is a review! Obviously, if you've made these gloves - I'd love to hear your thoughts..!!

And the blogpost soundtrack for today..? Well she'd say this was 'my' song (as a baby) - but I think this Stevie Wonder track works perfectly for Mum on Mother's Day :)

Let's start with the sizings - as good a place as any to get started - these gloves can be made in a small medium or large. But what does that mean? I mean, if you were going to buy a S/M/L ring from a shopping channel - that could mean ANYTHING - so how do you gauge it with a pair of gloves? My answer? Well - the pattern envelope describes the sizes in the following way; Small = 7", Medium = 8", Large = 9". Right. Clear as mud. I'm sorry if you had anything to do with the making of this pattern, I don't mean to be rude - but even rubber gloves have a measuring guide on the side of the packaging, and they're disposable! It appears the size guide with these gloves is in relation to the length, not finger/palm girth/length... so I took a long shot, and went for the large; at least they can be made smaller, the same can't be true for the reverse.
SO!
As there were only THREE pieces to cut (even if they are then split into smaller pieces, they are primarily clubbed together into three parts) I did think this could be one of my easiest projects ever. In fact, I was hoping they would be - meaning I could eventually gift beautiful gloves to all my friends and family - hey, I could even move into fleece... leather... sheepskin! It was the promise of an everlasting pattern that really excited me. I mean - lace wedding gloves? Soft leather driving gloves? Let's not get ahead of ourselves, first things first - let's make The Prototype.




With that in mind, I chose option C, made in the less-appealing giraffe print on the pattern envelope, I was going to make a more subtle royal blue pair. Not because I was stuck on blue - but because I already had the fabric in mind, refashioning an old top...or was it a dress?



I'm feeling quite proud of myself as *smug face* I realised the pattern pieces were each small enough to fit onto a piece of A4 paper... so I photocopied each piece, with a view to a) preserving the original pattern, so I can preserve it in it's fragile tissue paper form and b) creating a hardy paper pattern to pin to the fabric!



Here's my tip, if you're going to make these gloves out of the same kind of fabric I chose (e.g. frays VERY easily) - do things in a slightly different order to what the pattern instructions dictate. If you were to follow them as printed, you'd be making long cuts up between the fingers, and then putting those pieces to one side whilst you do other, coming back to them to add the thumb pieces, and gussets. Now that's fine if you're likely to make these on one sitting - but if there's even a glimmer of a chance that the project will sit a while between steps (as it had to with my hectic schedule) - then leave an edge to fray is not ideal. SO! Prepare the thumb pieces, and gusset pieces, before cutting through the fingers (going against what it tells you in the first instruction). I was quite pleased I had the forethought to leave uncut - as this project spanned a few days, a couple of hours here, a couple of hours there...

Also - when sewing up the more fiddly bits, like the thumb edges, I would recommend sewing right off the tip of the thumb, as you would with a dart, and then tying off. I say this because it's such a small seam allowance (3mm) and it's not easy to backstitch by the time you get to the fragile end of the thumb. But hey - you might have a tip for that - so please share of you do :)

And, before I show you the end result - a quick word on sizings...if you have the hands of a 6ft5" man, it's likely these will fit you without any fitting issues. If, like me, you have smaller hands, I would advise you really check before sewing up... The middle finger, especially, is rather long and wide, like no finger I've ever seen. Sausage like, even. It's easier to adjust the fit before sewing up...so make sure you keep checking the fit!

Finally, the great thing about this pattern, is the versatility- I decided to embellish with a few buttons- and short-listed to the following choices; which one are you more drawn to?






Although I loved the red stars, they were incompatible with the fabric - I think they'd be very suited to denim - but they were too harsh for the soft stretchy fabric of the glove. I had visions of the claw back riping right through the glove, leaving a frayed mess in its wake. Also, a few of these buttons stood quite proud - meaning they could catch, and make the gloves less comfortable to wear.



Finally I went with the gold fabric appliqué stars... hope you think I made the right choice...




As I write this, I'm also hoping Mum likes them - but as they're just one of various presents, if they're a disappointment I'm covered!! ;)
(*taken later) MUM WEARING GLOVES!



Yes, it's a strange shot... but Mum was determined not to have her face in shot. Well.. when I make her a coat her face will have to be in shot..! (not joking, that's coming later this year!) 

If you don't have the time/money/inclination to buy the pattern, why not play around with fabric in your stash/wardrobe, and see what you come up with? Or use some old gloves as a template! Here are some fingerless gloves I made from a dress a couple of years ago...

I'm going to finish off by sharing some cool news - I'll be talking about refashioning in the middle of this month, on behalf of West London Waste Authority... in a theatre!! *gulp* If you're anywhere near, pop along!

In the meantime, have a fabulous March...
Gema x



Comments

  1. These are so cute! And when I say cute I mean "lovely, feminine, thoughtful, classy," etc. I love that you made them for your mom. Stupid question... is Mother's Day really in March? On this side of the pond it's in May. Our cultural differences fascinate me. Back to the gloves, I'm in love with all the buttons you featured in this post (especially the birds-so funky). I think the Gold stars suit your mom (not that I know her personally or anything but...ya know). :)

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Laura! Really pleased you like them :) And yes, I think a lot of our 'days' are different, Mother's Day is also in May in Spain (I know from the Spanish side of my family)... weird really... but hey, it's International Women's Day today here - I presume also in the US too? :)

      Funnily enough, I nearly went with the bird buttons... if it wasn't for the 'Superwoman' feel I got from the stars... yes, I think they suit Mum too! x

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    2. Haha! Yes, yes it was Women's Day for us yesterday as well :)

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  2. How did you overcome the fraying issue?

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  3. Well I tried a zigzag stitch, but that made one of the small pieces curl... So I just used the shortest stitch length, worked as fast as I could (!), and hand finished the areas that were too fiddly for the machine... :)

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  4. I know they'll last a long time as there's nothing stronger than Mother's glove..

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