DIY March Hare Ears Alice in Wonderland

I'll be going as the Mad Hatter to an Unbirthday Tea Party, so naturally my husband will go as the March Hare. I looked everywhere for some ears that I liked, but they were no where to be found. What's a crafter to do but make some herself?

I wasn't originally planning to make this an Instructable, so I don't have the normal materials photo I take. Lo siento.

This cost me about $5 to make and took 45 minutes.

To make these ears, you'll need:

- A used Pillow Pet (I found mine at Goodwill for $4!) OR some fabric like the ears you want to make

-A sewing machine OR you can glue it all together

- Hot glue gun

- Wire

- Wire cutters

- A headband ($1 at Michael's)

At first, I felt a little guilty about this. Then I realized it'd most likely end up in a landfill anyways (who buys used pillows?) so I decided to look at this as an upcycle.

First, cut along one edge of the pillow pet. Remove the stuffing and put some aside for later. Separate the two sides of the pillow by cutting off the seams.

I drew a template that I used to cut out the front and back of each ear. I used the fluffy side for the front of the ear and the less fluffy side for the back and inside of the ear. I thought about using pink felt for the inside, but decided just to use the less fluffy side and just eye balled how big they should be.

Put the remaining material to the side for use later.

Pin the inside of the ear onto the front of the ear and sew.

Pin the front of the ear to the back of the ear and sew, leaving the bottom of the ear open.

Cut wire that is roughly two inches longer than you'll need to fit inside the ear. To do this. I put the end of my wire two inches below the bottom of the ear, followed along the edge of the ear, and cut the wire two inches below the bottom of the ear on the other side.

Place the wire inside the ear.

Stuff the ear to your preference. I figure hare ears aren't that fat, so I didn't use much studding, but you can see the change in dimension in the last photo.

Not pictures: Sew the bottom of the ears closed, being careful to avoid the wire lest you break your needle.

Here's where the extra material comes into play. Cut a piece of the remaining material that will cover the headband and glue it on. I cut a piece that was three times as wide as my headband. I put a streak of glue down the middle of my fabric and applied it to the headband. I then folded down and glued down one side, then the other.

You can see in the second photo that the piece I cut was a bit too short, so I just cut a 2 inch piece and glued it over. This fluffy fabric is very forgiving.

Wrap the wire around the headband tightly. I added some wire on the back to help stabilize the ears. I covered that with the less fluffy fabric.

In the third photo, you can see the wire between the ears. I just cut some fabric and glue it over the wire. Bless you, fluffy material, bless you.

I bent one of the ears a bit to give them the character of the March Hare. I also think they look more like rabbit ears and less like donkey ears when one is bent. I'll try to grab a photo of my husband with his full costume and face paint to share.

If you end up making these, I'd love to hear in the comments about how you sourced the fabric so that others who don't have access to used Pillow Pets can replicate this project.