Smudge Guard Gloves from Socks

Artists who draw sometimes use smudge guard gloves so that their pencil or ink work doesn’t smudge on paper. Smudge guard gloves are also used for digital drawers so that their skin doesn’t interfere with the touchscreen of their device and they can focus their drawing stylus on the lines they are creating.

Well, two young artists I know were complaining that their drawings often got smudged and that they saw these gloves online you could buy to protect your paper. They also work if you are drawing on a tablet to keep your hand from causing any digital issues. What? I thought how cool! So I wracked my brain and looked on Pinterest (as usual) and saw this brilliant idea. All you need is old socks and a sewing machine. Yep, got those!

How to make your own smudge guard gloves

I chose cotton socks that had a heel and used the heel as the base of the thumb position. I had each girl put her hand on top of the sock so I knew where each pinky finger would measure and pinned to mark placement.

Then I cut along the heel and up to the end of the pinkie.

I turned the sock inside out and inserted my own hand to see where my pinkie would fit… and then realized I needed to trim about an inch from the top 🙂

So I repinned and cut off the excess.

Then with a straight stitch I sewed around the top of the pinky to about 2 inches. I had the girls try on the gloves and when the fit was right I went over the seam once more and added a zig zag stitch around the opening for the hand. A little thread and corner trimming and they now own their own smudge guard gloves —  made by marni.

Totally fun, totally cheap and totally useful!