Sometimes I really just can't stand to clean. It can feel like such a thankless task. I like to try to do things to make it a little more tolerable, like playing my favorite music or a great podcast I can lose myself in. A few years ago when I was looking for a housewarming gift, I came across this great idea:
I first spotted this tutorial HERE and thought it was brilliant. Dressed up dish gloves. I know this sounds ridiculous but it really does make the chores seem a little more bearable when you put a fancy pair of these on. I designed a cheerful lemon/lime pattern for these green gloves. These are really easy to make. They also are a great housewarming gift paired with some nice natural cleaning products and/or a gift card to a home improvement store. If your mom has a great sense of humor, maybe she would like a pair for Mother's Day...... or maybe you will get sent for a time out.
In any case, these are really fun to make and wear.
You will need to get a pair of rubber gloves and some coordinating fabric. I used a cotton fabric. Since I chose a fabric that frays, I used pinking scissors to finish the ends but you could choose an oilcloth which does not fray and is also water resistant (*Pinking scissors are the ones that cut a zigzag pattern and can be found in any craft/sewing store or online. **Oilcloth is the material on a plastic tablecloth. You can even use a tablecloth for this project. You can also buy it by the yard at a fabric store or online). To figure out my fabric dimensions, I measured about an inch from the bottom of the glove around the circumference. It measured about 11 inches. I doubled that since I will be pleating the fabric. Also, add 1/4 inch for a seam allowance. The width I used was 4 1/4 inches. So if you use my measurements, you will need two pieces of fabric that are 4 1/2 inches wide by 22 1/2 inches long.
Pleat your fabric and then run it through the sewing machine. You can use a ruler and measure out the distance between pleats and the size of each one if you want a more polished look but I just fold as I sew (See the above picture to see how to fold a pleat).
Pictured above is what the fabric looks like after sewing the pleats.
Next you will be folding each cuff in half (right sides facing together) and sewing the end to form a ring
You will be sliding the glove onto your sewing machine and then placing the cuff you just sewed over the top of the glove so the raw edges line up (as pictured above).
Once you have placed the glove on the arm of the sewing machine and the cuff of fabric over the glove (right side facing in towards the right side of the glove), sew the cuff onto the glove with a 1/4 to 1/2 inch seam allowance from the edge. The rubber glove can resist a little so just go nice and slow and stop often to make sure the glove and the fabric are moving together smoothly. If you find you have a little extra fabric just pleat it and keep sewing.
When you are done sewing, flip the cuff over.
Here I used my pinking shears (the scissors with those little teeth) to cut the edges to prevent fraying).
You could stop here and have a perfectly cute set of gloves. OR you could add some extras.
Find some coordinating ribbon and use a hot glue gun to adhere it to the seams.
I found some little yellow rosebuds to glue over the seam of the ribbon.
And Voila!!
So there you have it. They may not magically clean the house for you (darnit!) but maybe they will add some cheer and happiness to your chores :)
Happy spring cleaning!
If you want to use the lemon/lime fabric pictured above it will be available for purchase at my spoonflower shop HERE.
For more simple sewing projects, click HERE for to learn to sew a simple lavender sachet, HERE to learn how to make a simple drawstring pouch, or HERE to make a rice (hot or cold) pack.
P.S. I just watched the Minimalists on Netflix. Highly recommend you watch this to get motivated for your spring cleaning. It will put you in purge mode!
Thanks for stopping by!
Warmly,
Pam