Handlebar Mitts (Pogies) - Road Test 3 - Rain - Passed!

Well i think i've taken these as far as i can. Conclusion - they are great if you're making them out of wool and cloth you have at home and don't want to spend money on them. Also are cuter than store-bought options out there.

Was drizzly today, but came down mild to medium hard on way back. Hallelujah - the insides stayed dry! You could feel the top was damp, but there was no dampness inside. See video HERE.

I was worried the minky cloth i ordered from Spoonflower might not work. But i put my hands in and out of the gloves numerous times on this ride, and the insides didn't get wet.

I like all the colour on them, and the bike patterns.  Used duplicate stitch for the letters, needle punch for the bikes, and french knots for snow, flakes, lazy daisy st for the yellow flowers floating out behind the bikes. The Happy Bike print on the cloth liner was so fun. So aesthetic-wise - 200 percent improvement over MEC type pogies.

It was about 4 degrees C when we were out. The kid had cloth bike gloves, and his hands were wet and cold. Mine weren't. If biking sub zero, i would wear  lite biking glove underneath. I do this with my rubber store-bought ones anyway.

They've been a while in the making. I think you could get your money back selling them if you used fun locally sourced flannel (vs specially ordered cloth), as well as wool already in stash. So let's say $30 in wool, $15 in cloth. Time in labour - 3 hours knitting, 1 hr cutting & sewing, 2 hours topical stitching. So undervaluing one's time at $5 an hour, that's $30 in construction time. Total - $75 in time and materials. To buy them in non-black vinyl colours is over $100, so this is still cheaper to make your own, and has way more character.

If you were to make them for other people, i'd ditch the cloth liner. Make a cover for MEC pogies to give character. The top stitching gives quirky pattern and colour. Simplify the design to take 1 hour. Now you're at $30 in wool,  $25 in construction time = $55 time and materials cost. Ditch the embroidery and you're down to $45 time and mat. If you could sell the covers for $50, then you would start making money.

If it's just a cover, you could make from acrylic-wool blend or just acrylic for less cost/more colour. I will try a prototype pogie cover in A or AW blend, and record results.

I think this bodes well for the experiment i want to do on kayak pogies. Basic mitten shape that can be smaller since it doesnt have to stretch over  brake levers, hole thumb and opposite side for paddle shaft to pass thru. Line with flannel to absorb some water, definitely wool shell to repel splashing.

Rewarding project :)