Vintage Linen Mitten Banner

While my husband was 'puppy sitting', I was able to get to my craft room and actually "Create"!  I dug into my stash of vintage linens and doilies and came up with this winter banner.

This is a great way to use linens that have stains or tears on them but still have areas with pretty designs that you want to use and preserve.  I made a mitten pattern and then traced it onto the linen pieces.

You'll want to cut a front, back and a piece of medium weight interfacing for added body and stiffness.  When using very thin fabrics (i.e. vintage hankies), I actually fused interfacing to the back of both pieces.  

Assembly for stitching:  Right sides together of fabric pieces and interfacing piece on top of either the front or back, it doesn't really matter which.  I used a scant 1/8" seam.

Stitch leaving the 'wrist' edge open.  Before turning right side out, carefully clip the curves to give a nice, flat seam.

Press the mitten.

A zig zag stitch on the edge helps prevent fraying.

These were once large doilies that I cut apart.  You can't tell in this picture but the ones on the right have a pretty, turquoise blue center.  Since I decorate with a lot of blue for Christmas, I chose linens and these doilies with blue accents in them.

The small blue and white doily medallions were folded and stitched over the top edge of each mitten.

Left over burlap scraps were used to make little pennants and the other doily medallions were stitched on top.  I also used a zig zag stitch around the edges of these to keep the burlap from raveling.

Cotton cording was stitched to the backs of the pieces to create the banner.  

I liked this but wanted to add 'just a little something' more.  Vintage ribbons would have been pretty but I didn't have enough so I dug through my stash and found a piece of a vintage curtain.

I used pinking shears and cut strips of the fabric and tied the strips in between each mitten and burlap pennant.  Being a 'winter hater', I feel like this is a good compromise.  

Mittens . . . with flowers on them haha!

I haven't started decorating for Christmas and quite honestly, probably won't do a lot this year.  With a puppy in the house, having a tree would probably be crazy so we may just put a small tree on a table in the corner instead.

Hudson seems to like the snow (although he sure looks grumpy in this photo!).  This day the flakes were bigger than his nose and he couldn't quite figure it all out.  

So this year, I'll set aside a lot of the Christmas decorations, especially if I want them to remain in one piece!