Glove & Mitten Size Chart
Unlike chest, head, and foot length, hand circumference genuinely has no standard published chart across the pattern industry. Hand size simply doesn't track age as consistently as those other measurements do, which is presumably why no body-measurement standard ever settled on a fixed set of age-based hand bands the way it has for every other chart on this site.
What this page gives you instead
Rather than presenting invented age-based bands as if they were an established standard, this page states plainly what most mitten and glove patterns actually rely on: a directly measured hand circumference and length, checked against the specific wearer. The reference figures below are this site's own illustrative planning numbers, used consistently across its mitten project pages, not a claim of industry consensus.
Reference measurements used across this site
| Band | Hand circumference | Length (wrist to fingertip) |
|---|---|---|
| Baby | ~4.5 in | ~3.5 in |
| Child | ~5.75 in | ~5.5 in |
| Adult average | ~7.5 in | ~7.5 in |
| Adult plus | ~8.75 in | ~8.25 in |
Treat every figure here as a reasonable starting point for planning, nothing more — the baby mitten project page walks through exactly why a real hand always outranks any number on this table.
How to measure a hand for a real project
Wrap a soft tape around the widest part of the hand, excluding the thumb, keeping the hand relaxed rather than fisted or stretched. Measure length separately, from the wrist crease to the tip of the middle finger. The two numbers don't scale together in fixed proportion, so both need their own direct measurement rather than estimating one from the other.
Gloves versus mittens: what changes in sizing
A mitten's single hand-shaped pocket is more forgiving of a slightly imprecise circumference than a glove's individually fitted fingers are — each finger on a glove needs its own length and width measured or estimated, which is why glove patterns typically ask for more individual measurements (each finger's length, hand width at the knuckles) than a mitten pattern does.
FAQ
Why doesn't a standard hand-circumference chart exist the way one does for foot length? No single industry body-measurement standard has published one — hand size correlates with age and body size less consistently than foot length or chest circumference do, so pattern designers have generally settled on "measure the actual hand" rather than a standardized age-based chart.
Should mittens be sized with room to grow, the way a sweater might be? Not much — an oversized mitten tends to bunch and reduces hand dexterity in a way that defeats its purpose more than a loose sweater would; sizing close to the actual current measurement, and making a new pair as a child's hand grows, is the more common practical approach.
Is thumb length included in the "length" measurement on this chart? No — thumb gusset placement and thumb length are typically handled as their own separate measurement and shaping decision within a mitten pattern, not folded into the wrist-to-fingertip hand length figure.
Does a growing child's hand size change quickly enough to matter between projects? Often yes, especially through the early school years — re-measuring before starting a new pair rather than trusting a figure from a project made months earlier catches this the same way this site's child sock guidance recommends for feet.