Festive Holiday Gloves...

 

How long has it been since you have worn gloves as a fashion accessory rather than for a practical purpose such as winter warmth or protection from harsh tasks? I've always liked gloves, but they have long fallen out of fashion it seems. That is until a recent online Stitch Club workshop with textile artist Jennifer Collier. You can see some of Jennifer's creations here- she's referred to as a "paper pioneer". Paper and stitch sculptures are her forte and she instructed us in making fancy paper gloves! So there's no practical purpose here- just pure decoration and fun. Why paper gloves you may ask? Why not, I say.

Here's the back of the glove. My holiday gloves began with a recycled gift bag. A real glove was the basis for a template and the rest was cutting, stitching, and embellishing to give the piece a realistic look. We pierced, then stitched, the edges and the thumb piece. Piercing first gave the paper more stability and less likelihood to rip. We had the option to machine sew, but I like the look of the cotton floss stitching. Of course, technically, this is a half pair since I made only one glove.

I found some interesting information on gloves throughout history at The Wardrobe Shop blog. There I learned about gloves as indicators of social status and the etiquette for wearing gloves- a proper woman was to "never go out without gloves." But what interested me more was the information about gloves and health. Particularly during the 1800s, contagious diseases were rampant. Gloves provided the barrier between the body and environment, and helped stop the spread of germs. I bought these gloves at the beginning of the current pandemic when it was thought that contact with surfaces caused the spread of the virus. It made sense to me to wear gloves at that time, and I found these pretty lined lacy ones online. 

They haven't gotten much use since the guidelines changed. But look at this nifty addition to the glove fingers. It's a pad that allows you to use touch screen electronics while still wearing the gloves! Ingenious. I remember as a child that a distant aunt opened a glove shop in a nearby city. That would fall into the category of "anachronistic" since there's probably not a glove shop in business today, other than online. According to Wardrobe Shop, "Today, wearing gloves as anything other than outerwear is extremely rare." *Sigh* Isn't that too bad?