D.I.Y Bear ears

Bear Ears

This is a super cute D.I.Y to add to an unused or plain Hooded top to make it that bit more fun!

I was really into bear Hats about two years ago, and when River Island brought out their range of animal hats I was first in line (and in school) to have one! Then they became a bit, well over used and EVERYONE had one, but I still love the idea and this way you don't have the same hat as everyone else, but you can have your own version!

 I chose bear style ears, but by changing the colour and shape of the fabric you could do rabbit, cat, fox, antelope, the world is your oyster ;)

What you need:
2x Colours of felt
Thread
Sewing Machine
One Hooded Top (Mine is a cheapy from the men's section in Primark)
Needle

 1) Start by marking out where you want your ears. I wore my hoody and looked in the mirror to see roughly where they needed to be. Then use Tailors chalk to mark onto the fabric. I used a ruler to measure the distance from the middle seam to each ear so they're not wonky.

 2) This next step depends on how you want your ears to look. Cut four of the same outer shape (in whatever colour you choose, it's best if it matches the hoody though), and two for the middle colouring. I like white as it's pretty simple and more 'realistic' (as far as bear hoody's go?!)

 Now you need to sew one side of white felt to one side of black, and do this twice, so you have two shapes like the picture above.

To sew them together, place TWO RIGHT SIDES TOGETHER (as my textiles teacher would always emphasise), and sew along the edge. Make sure not to sew the bottoms together, or you won't be able to turn them the right way! Now turn them back out so you have a shape like the one below.  Do this twice, once for each ear.

Then you will have these two shapes. Don't worry if they're a bit wonky, it all adds to the look. (Have I ever told you I am THE WORST SEWER EVER!)

This next step is optional, but I think it does help to keep the ears upright when their sewn on. Stuff the ears with cotton wool, or this synthetic wool stuffing I have here. Make sure its not too full, but that there's enough so it holds a fatter shape.

 Lastly, sew the ears to the hoody! I didn't stitch the bottoms of the ears together before sewing the
m to the hoody, but you could do if you fancied. I just used black thread and sewed them by hand.

And that's all there is too it! I hope you enjoy your new ears :)

They work well as a very lazy dressing up costume too !