Bernie Sanders' mitten maker Jen Ellis publishes new book on post-fame life

Essex Junction resident Jen Ellis never wanted to be famous. Ellis was an elementary school teacher in 2021 when a picture of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders wearing a large, fluffy pair of mittens she sewed became a viral internet sensation.

To tell her own story about life before and after internet fame, Ellis is publishing a memoir on May 2 titled "Bernie's Mitten Maker."

"I decided to write a book about this experience because it was so unbelievable to go from just living my normal life to suddenly my phone was blowing up, thousands of people were emailing me, and asking me for the story, for the mittens, to be business partners with me," Ellis said.

Ellis has been making mittens out of old sweaters for about 10 years. In 2016, Ellis sewed a pair for Sanders' daughter-in-law, who was the director of Ellis' daughter's preschool. For years, Ellis didn't think much about it, until the mittens became Vermont-famous with a meme of Sanders drawing rainbows with the mittens in 2020. A year later, the mittens became world-famous with a photo of Sanders wearing the mittens at President Joe Biden's inauguration.

"This is a fame that I didn't necessarily want," Ellis said. "But even from the beginning I could see that it was an opportunity to do something good, and it was a really interesting story, which is why I wanted to write the book."

Making the most out of unexpected fame

Since the meme blew up, Ellis has partnered with Vermont company Darn Tough to create socks with the same pattern as Bernie's viral mittens, as well as Vermont Teddy Bear in Shelburne to mass-produce similarly styled mittens from old sweaters. A portion of sales from these products have raised about $400,000 for Vermont charities and nonprofits, including Outright Vermont, Camp Ta-Kum-Ta, and Make-A-Wish Vermont.

The Sanders campaign printed the meme onto T-Shirts, sweatshirts, and stickers, raising a total of $1.8 million for charity through online merchandise sales.

After the meme became viral, Sanders himself called Ellis to thank her for the mittens and offer her advice on how to cope with fame. A private person by nature, Ellis was overwhelmed by fame and decided to write a memoir as a means of processing her emotions.

"The mittens and the memes were funny and people like a funny story, but the backstory isn't all funny," Ellis said. "It talks about times in my life where I've had been through difficult situations and turned to sewing to heal, to grow, to connect with people."

What's ahead for Jen

Ellis still sews mittens for nonprofits and friends. She has worked as an elementary school teacher for nearly two decades, and is now pursuing a master's degree in counseling from the University of Vermont. Currently she is taking a year off from graduate school to write a fiction book.

"I told enough of my own stories. Now I'm just gonna make stuff up," Ellis laughed.

Ellis' memoir "Bernie's Mitten Maker" is out May 2. She will be debuting the book and signing copies at Phoenix Books in Burlington at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 2.

Contact April Fisher at amfisher@freepressmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter: @AMFisherMedia

This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Bernie Sanders' famous mitten maker Jen Ellis publishes new book