Introduction: Fur Ears

About: The Maker Studio is a museum makerspace at Science City in Kansas City, MO. To see more of our creations follow us on Instagram @The_Maker_Studio or @ScienceCityKC

Make your own no-sew fur ears for any occasion!

Supplies

  • 2 colors of fur
  • craft foam
  • scissors
  • paper
  • drawing utensil
  • wire & cutter
  • headband

Step 1: Cut Out Your Ear Templates

Use your paper and writing utensil to make a template for your ears. Draw an outer ear shape and a smaller inner ear shape. Cut both shapes out & hold them up while you look in the mirror to see if it looks like how you want it to. You can tape them together with just a small bit of tape if you need to but they'll need to be separated again so that you can trace them. You can also make a second ear to hold up as well if it helps you get a better idea. You can easily trace them and re-draw them larger or smaller if you need to.

Step 2: Cut Out the Fur Ear Pieces

Once you have your paper template ears the right shape and size, set the template down and trace around it. If your fur is longer or patterned you may want to consider which way you want the fur to lay/pattern to go when you trace out your ear shape. When you cut out the fur, cut near the backing/bottom of the fabric as much as you can to avoid cutting off lots of the fur. You'll need to cut out 2 sets of the out ear (front and back) and one set of the inner ear.

Step 3: Glue in the Foam and Wire

Add the foam:

Trace & cut out two foam pieces, cut them so that they are a slightly smaller than the ears so that they don't stick out once you glue them in place. Put a bead of hot glue around the outside of the fur and press the foam onto it.

Add the wire:

You'll need to cut two pieces of wire; one for the bottom and one for the sides & top of the ear. The one for the bottom of the ear should stick off the sides about 1/2" so that there is extra wire to attach the ears to the headband. Put a bead of hot glue down and press the wire on top of it. You can add another bead of glue on top of the wire too if it needs it to hold it in place.

Step 4: Add the Second Fur Piece

Make sure all of the fur on both pieces is pulled out of the way as much as possible as you glue down the second large fur piece. Add a bead of hot glue around the edge and press the fur down. After you get it initially stuck down you can go around the edges carefully and add more glue if you need to. If it's too hard to get the glue into the small spaces you can use a toothpick to apply it.

Step 5: Add the Inner Ear

Push the fur out of the way as much as possible. Make sure you put glue in the middle section (where the fur is parted) so it can adhere to the backing and not just the ends of the fur. If you need to, you can trim some of the fur that will be hidden behind the inner ear in order to get it stick down better. Glue the inner ear into place & pull the fur up in front of it a bit to make it look more natural.

Step 6: Bend the Wires

Now you can bend the wires to make the ears more curved and naturally shaped.

Step 7: Attach to Headband & Wear

Use the extra bits of wire to attach each ear to the headband by wrapping the wire around the band. Make sure the ends of the wire end up on top so that you don't get poked by them, trim them a bit if necessary. Once both ears are on the headband you can wear you ears & be a party animal!