I'd like to make some extremely light and packable wind mitts that I can wear over my midweight fleece gloves.

Where can I find patterns?
What would be the best material to use? Simple mini-ripstop? Pertex?

There is a fleece mitten pattern at Thru-Hiker that could be used for wind mitts. See the 'workshop' page at thru-hiker.com. Would love to see a picture here when you're finished! Good luck.

Mountain Laurel Designs may have just what you are looking for already made.

Edited by ericnoble on 11/30/2006 15:27:48 MST.

I had looked at those MLD mitts. They were exactly the design I had in mind but I could not order them. Now I see they have them ready. I may do that. Of course, it would still be fun to make my own... :)

There is a fleece mitten pattern at Thru-Hiker that could be used for wind mitts.

I made some almost a year ago and used the Thru-Hiker article as a starting point.

They work great ... 6*F this morning with a -5F wind chill. I was wearing cheap mid weight knit gloves inside the shell for my exposed 1 mile walk to the bus stop and my fingers were toasty.

I used them over heavy wool mitts on 3 mile stroll one windy -10*F morning last winter... worked great.

Nov thru Feb I don't leave home without them.

I have a how-to about half written up, including measuring for size. I suppose I could finish it.

Edited by jcolten on 12/01/2006 14:39:04 MST.

Hi all,
I just tried making some overmitts the other night. Guess it was a little too late after a long day.
Here’s what happened:
I traced my mitten-positioned hand onto a piece of paper leaving a ½ inch seam allowance.
Cut the paper to form a pattern, planning on making four of these out of some pertex quantum left over from my last bivy project.
Traced the pattern.
Cut the fabric.
Carefully sewed it all together.
And Viola!
A perfect two dimensional representation of what a quantum overmitt should look like.
Of course, you will notice, I forgot about the three dimensional aspect of my hands.
Oopsie!
However, all is not lost. After a good round of everyone’s favorite game (Fun With Seam Rippers), I now have the palms for my next attempt ready to go.
Please wish me luck. Or, better yet, wish me thoughtful concentration.
Eric

don't forget to share a picture of the final product

good luck and please don't poke yourself with the seam ripper (been there - got the scar to prove it) - one shouldn't sew when they are tired either - when making a tarp I accidentally sewed right through my finger - that hurt like...

Ouch!!!
Brings a song back to mind:
"I saw the needle and the damage done..."
I'll be happy to post some photos if I can figure out how. It's too bad I didn't take any of my bomb mitt. It looked like an oversized lobster claw (it was red) when I blew air into it.
Maybe I should also post some pictures of my RJ Quilt and the Bivy I designed?
Be well,
Eric

ya - I'd love to see the gear - in a past career I was a teddy bear designer so I absolutely adore sewing and creating patterns - when I got into backpacking and paddling that skill set spilled over to gear making

I am in the process of making a pair like the mountain laurel designs and used a Green peper pattern: Mittens & Overmitts number GP207. It cost about 5.00 for the pattern and I find it's much easier to just start from one if possible. Most of the on-line fabric places sell them.

I always start by making projects out of cotton then final fabric. It make changing things a bit easier and the fabric is cheap and super easy to sew.

for the final fabric I used sil nylon for one pair just to try but Epic Malibu from Thru-hiker is what I'm considering if I like the outcome.

I will post some pictures this week when I'm back from a work trip.

JFF

These are some pictures of the pattern I made from the Green pepper pattern. The difference being mind is a bit smaller. I'm going to take this pattern and most likely redo it on the computer so its more even.

I started with the one on the right and shaped down the pattern to the end one on the right. The current working model is 2 ply of sil nylon.

This is the fit I was looking for although I need to clean up the pattern so it will make right and left matts the same. I'm also going to flair out the ends. I cut them back to much. I think it could be a problem with a coat once at camp.

The final weight is 1oz for the pair.

JFF