Mini Earmuffs Tutorial

Are you ready for another dose of cute? This is the third and final post in my *mini* series of warm winter accessories for the Wildlife with Love™ critters. Mini earmuffs, of course! Flurry and Fluff polar bears are naturally equipped to brave arctic temps, but now they can do so in style!

For each set of earmuffs, you'll need a pipe cleaner, felt scraps, fabric glue and embroidery floss.

Fold the pipe cleaner in half then twist the two halves together.

Cut out 4 felt circles, about 1" or so in diameter. I like to use a large button, coin, or cap as a template. Place it on the felt between your thumb and fingers then just guide your scissors around the edge as you cut.

Apply glue to the center of one felt circle then place one end of the twisted pipe cleaner into the glue. Apply more glue on top and around the end, leaving space near the edge of the circle. Press a second circle on top of the glue, sandwiching the end of the pipe cleaner.

Bend the pipe cleaner into a U-shape then "try it on" the stuffed animal. You may want to shorten the pipe cleaner buy cutting off a bit with scissors. Then apply the second set of felt circles to the other end as described in the step above.

Using embroidery floss, sew the circle edges together using a blanket stitch. If you need reference, Future Girl has a great photo tutorial for hand sewing the blanket stitch on felt.

Continue the blanket stitch all the way around. Tie off your floss and repeat the process for the second set of circles. Easy peasy!

Now the Wildlife gang is all decked out for the winter! Oh the cuteness! If you enjoyed this tutorial be sure to check out the mini hat and scarf and the mini capelet and have fun with them. The PDF patterns for all of the animals you see here are available in my etsy shop.

By the way, softie designer Abby Glassenberg just posted a pattern review of Flurry and Fluff on her blog! She always does a super honest and thorough job with her assessment. Plus, she made them in fleece instead of felt, which turns out to be a great alternative! Thanks, Abby!