Miriam Felton

I’m just finishing up a collection of glove patterns inspired by 1940′s actresses and I thought a tutorial on blocking gloves seemed appropriate.

What you will need:

• Foam Core Board (if you can get the waterproof kind you can skip Step 5)
• Pen or Pencil
• Craft Knife with a sharp point (like an X-Acto knife)
• Powderless plastic gloves
• Tape

Note:
If you are making gloves for someone else, these steps can also be used to make a try-form of the recipient’s hand. Just get a tracing of the recipient’s hand, and follow the Steps 1-4. Then you can pull the glove in progress onto the form to check palm length, finger length, etc… If you start with a paper tracing of their hand, fold the thumb back before you trace onto the foam core, and keep the paper template handy to ensure you knit the thumb to the correct length.

Step 1: Trace

Place your hand on the foam core, with fingers slightly spread (enough that you can get your writing utensil in between the fingers).

Trace around your hand, skipping the thumb completely so that your outline stops at the valley between palm and thumb and begins again at the base of your thumb near the wrist.

Step 2: Finish the Oultine

Draw a straight line across where the thumb would have been to complete the outline.

Step 3: Cut Out The Form

Using the craft knife, cut along the outline, making sure to get through the both paper layers of the foam core board. It can be helpful to do this in two passes, going through the first layer carefully to get the outline correct and then passing through that cut again to catch the second paper layer.

Step 4: Make The Second Form

Repeat Steps 1-3 so you have two glove forms. You can trace the same hand twice if your hands are roughly the same size. If your hands aren’t roughly the same size, then get someone to help you trace your second hand onto the foam core.

Step 5: Waterproof
If you started with waterproof foam core, then you can skip this step. If you want a more permanent glove blocking setup, you can cover the glove forms with packing tape or contact paper.

Slide the plastic gloves onto the foam core forms.

Tape the thumb and excess plastic glove down onto the palm so it doesn’t get in the way.

Step 6: Block the Gloves

Wash the gloves and roll them up in a towel to extract excess water. Slide the damp glove on to the form and fold the thumb across the palm of the glove. Lay them out somewhere and let them dry completely before removing from the form.

Hope the tutorial was helpful! Enjoy your gloves

Miriam