Quilting gloves are worn by quilters and are used when sewing together the layers of a quilt. They assist in providing a firm grip on the quilt to prevent slippage and ensure greater precision when quilting out the stitched design.
However, having said that, it’s important to note that there is another type of quilting glove whose purpose is to protect your hands from cuts when using a rotary cutter.
For now, we will start with the former and we’ll get to those protective type quilt gloves further on below.
How Do Quilting Gloves Work?
Quilting gloves are generally made with rubberized fingertips. This allows you to grip the quilt and move it around under the needle without it slipping. This makes them great for people who are new to quilting and still practicing.
Different versions of quilting gloves are now available that are fingerless and involve wrapping around the palm of the hand. This is considered to be better ergonomically as it encourages you to lay your hands flat to quilt. It is said to reduce neck, hand and arm pain.
Advantages and disadvantages of quilting gloves
Advantages
- They help to grip the fabric when quilting to enable you to better control the quilt. What this means is that you have greater control over the movement of your quilt which ultimately leads to a better quilting result.
- They can help to reduce muscle fatigue and pain so your arms and hands don’t tire as easily and start to ache. This means you will be able to quilt for longer.
Disadvantages
- They may need to be removed each time you need to rethread the machine or change out the bobbin.
- They can make your hands hot and sweaty.
- They can get dirty and grubby looking pretty quickly.
Are they necessary?
Benefits
- You do not need to remove them in order to thread a needle or load a bobbin
- It comes in two different sizes 1 1/2” Wide. (s/m) and 2″ Wide. (m/l)
- Hand wash only
Where Can You Buy Betty Bands?
You can buy Betty Bands at:
4. Amity Swann Quilting Gloves
These are another version of a 3 finger quilting glove. It’s worth watching the short video on these gloves as it explains it beautifully. I have summarised the main points below.
- Padding in the palm causes your wrist to raise slightly
- Padding reduces the vibration of the machine on your hands if you are using a long arm quilting machine
- You can adjust the wrist to suit you
- The black pads on the fingertips are actually touch screen compatible which means you don’t have to remove the gloves in order to touch your sewing machine screen
- The padded surface is made from micro-suede
The only drawback I can see is that I would think that you would have to remove these gloves in order to change a bobbin or rethread the machine.
How to Measure Your Hand for the Amity Swan Gloves
- Slide a ruler between your first and index finger (see image below)
- Take a measurement for both fingers.
Note: If you have long nails, take that into account.
If you are having difficulty choosing a size then lean more towards getting the middle finger measurement right rather than the first finger.
Petite: Index finger 2-3/4″ Middle finger 3″
Small: Index finger 2-7/8″ Middle finger 3-1/8″
Med: Index finger 3″ Middle finger 3-1/4″
Large: Index finger 3-1/4″ Middle finger 3-1/2″
You can see in the image below for my measurement it was about 2¾” for the first finger and 3 1/8″ for the index finger. I would probably go with the Small.
Where Can You Buy Amity Swan Quilting Gloves?
- Amity Swan (Official Site)
6. Dritz Fons & Porter Machine Grips Gloves
These look a lot like garden gloves but they are specifically made for quilters.
I couldn’t find much information on these gloves apart from the short description on Amazon. However, they have received a lot of positive reviews and they are a Fons & Porter brand which are generally very good.
Benefits
- These are made from 100% cotton yarn
- They are machine washable but best to not use the dryer on these. Leave them to air dry.
- Two sizes are available – medium and large.
Where can you buy the Fons & Porter Quilting Gloves?
You can purchase from Amazon in two sizes:
7. Palm Grip Fingerless Quilting Gloves
These are another option for those that don’t like the traditional style quilting glove.
The Palm Grip gloves wrap around your palm and since they are adjustable they only come in one size. That I really like.
You can watch the video below to see these gloves in action.
- It encourages you to quilt with your hands flat on the table which helps to avoid neck and arm muscle strain.
- You don’t have to remove them in order to change a thread or bobbin or touch your sewing machine screen.
- These gloves can be resized easily so you don’t need to order a particular size. One size fits most.
Where can you buy the Quilting Grip Gloves?
You can purchase these gloves from:
- Amazon
- marciabaraldi.com (Official Site)
8. Quilters Glove Tips
If none of the above options appeal to you then there is always the Quilters Glove Tips.
I really don’t have much info to give you on these apart from the fact that they cover your fingers and provide a grip on your fabric.
The benefit of these is that you have nothing covering your palm at all so if gloves or bands annoy you then these might be your final resort.
Where can you buy Quilters Glove Tips?
How to Clean Machingers Quilting Gloves?
For some reason, it doesn’t take long for these gloves to get dirty. You can see how mine look after only a small amount of use.
Machingers can be thrown in the wash or do what one quilter recommended and just wash your hands with them on and leave them out to dry. It’s probably best not to place them in the dryer as it may affect the rubberized texture.
You can watch the video below on how to clean Machingers:
Protective Quilting Gloves
Now let’s take a look at the second type of quilting glove. These are gloves that are made to protect your hand when using your rotary cutter.
You can purchase gloves that are made for chefs and butchers but we know of at least one company that makes a protective glove specifically for quilters and that is Fons & Porter.
Fons & Porter Klutz Gloves
These gloves are woven with stainless steel which protects you from cuts when using your rotary cutter. Plus it has rubber dots on the surface which help you to grip things like your ruler or your fabric.
How to choose the right size?
Measure the width of your palm at the knuckles.
- Small will be up to 3 1/8″ (7.94cm)
- Medium will be up to 3 1/2″ (8.89cm)
Where can you buy Klutz Gloves?
You can purchase these from Amazon:
Pam O'Brien says
Love LOVE LOVE The Klutz Glove. This also has saved my Fingers MANY MANY ATIME! Worth any price.
Marina Taylor says
This article is informative and useful to understand what are quilting gloves completely. This article helped me a lot to know the concept of quilting gloves and its benefits as well. Thanks for such an informative article.
Alanda Craft says
Happy to hear that you found the article helpful Marina. 🙂