Mood DIY: Russian Fur Hat with Ear Flaps

We’ve been getting a whole lotta snow here in the city, and everywhere I look, people young and old have been donning these Russian Fur Hats with the Ear Flaps (think they’re called Ushankas) to keep warm — me included. So, I thought it would fun to create my own. I used some beautiful fuchsia colored wool knitted fabric I found at Mood Fabrics, that really popped against the faux fur I found there. Want in on the action? Take a look at the steps below.

SUPPLIES: 1/2 yard faux fur, 1/2 yard wool knit, scissors, elastic cord, 4 small buttons, needle and thread, pattern (I made some adjustments to one I found at Sewbon.com), 1/2 yard silk lining, straight pins, and a sewing machine.

HOW-TO:
1. Cut the pattern out (Note: I tweaked the Ear Flap portion to be a little rounder around the ear, and the Front Flap was a little more boxy than I would have liked, so I used one of the side panels for it instead).
2. I wanted the Tiny Ears up in the middle of the hat, so I created my own pattern for them by bending the corner of the new Ear Flap I made, to create these.
3. Pin the pieces to your fabric and fur and begin cutting out all your desired pieces.
4. Here are the pieces you’ll have when done: Fur = 1 front, 2 small ears, 1 ear flap; Pink Fabric = 1 front, 2 tiny ears, 2 sides, 1 top, and 1 ear flaps; Silk = 2 sides and 1 front.
5. Start with your Front Flap, Tiny Ears, and Ear Flap — pin them all right sides facing with their respective fur and fabric pieces.
6. Sew your Front Flap together.
7. Here I’m sewing together my Ear Flap (Note: I found it easier to secure each ear first and then worry about the middle — cutting out any excess if needed — or as the fabric stretches on your machine your ears may not line up the way you would like).
8. As you are sewing up the Tiny Ears, slip in the little loops of the elastic cord (Note: you may want to hand stitch them into place, mine tended to wiggle around as I was trying to sew them on the machine).

HOW-TO CONT’D: 
9. Take your Top Piece and pin it centered to the back side of your Front Flap.
10. Take your 2 Side Pieces and pin these 2 semi-circles to your Top Piece.
11. Sew these 4 pieces together.
12. Pin your 2 Tiny Ears into place on your 2 Side Pieces.
13. Now it’s time to add on your Ear Flap….I found it easier to pin the center first, that way whatever was left would line up around the ears, evenly.
14. You should have already cut out 2 Sides and a Top Piece from your silk….go ahead and make a second little hat out of the silk for your lining.
15. Place the lining inside of your hat, wrongs sides facing. Pin it into place.
16. I found it easier for this step to just hem the lining a 1/4 of an inch and hand stitch it to the rest of the hat.
17. Line up the elastic loops on your tiny ears where you’ll want your buttons to go, and then hand stitch them on (Note: I anchored them with another button on the inside).

Brandhyze Stanley is the chief voice of the award winning blog, Frugal-nomics.com; a platform designed to share with women how to live and look fabulous on a dime. A DIY girl at heart—Brandhyze has been featured on The View, The Early Show, The Today Show, InStyle Magazine, Essence Magazine, and MTVStyle. A Wilhelmina Model for over a decade, with a Business Degree from Loyola University Chicago, Brandhyze provides DIY content to the popular How-To Site, eHow; and has been a contributor for Huffington Post, Yahoo Finance, Manilla, Good Housekeeping, and Newsday Westchester. Brandhyze is a huge thrifter and a lover of all good deals, follow her on Twitter @MyFrugalnomics and on Facebook at Facebook.com/Frugalnomics.