Tag: Faux Fur

DIY

Frugal-nomics DIY: Russian Fur Hat with Ear Flaps

There’s been a whole lotta snow here in the city this winter, and everywhere I look, people –both 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, that really popped against the faux fur I found. Want in on the action? Take a look at the
steps below. Oh, and if you want another fun idea for fur fabric, check out my fur vest here.

SUPPLIES: 1/2 yard faux fur, 1/2 yard wool knit, scissors, 8 in of elastic cord, 4 small buttons, needle and thread, pattern (I made some
adjustments to one I found here at Sewbon.com), 1/2 yard silk lining, some straight pins, and a sewing machine.

HOW-TO:
1. Cut out your pattern (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 the Front instead).
2. I wanted the Tiny Ears up in the middle of the hat, so I made my own pattern for those 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. Go ahead and 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 just a bit as I was trying to sew them on the machine).

HOW-TO CONT’D:
9. Now you’re going to 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. Ear Flaps up next — 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).

DIY

Frugal-nomics DIY: Faux Fur Vest

If you ask me, buying the perfect faux fur vest can be a little tricky…I mean, there are so many factors to consider.  I know this because after a month of looking, I finally settled on a Zara one on eBay that would do, but it wasn’t my dream vest. I mean, when shopping; not only do you have to make sure it’s the right length, but you also have to ensure that the hair doesn’t look too fake AND that it’s in your price range—which can be sometimes be a bit of a tall order for one vest. But, it doesn’t have to be….not if you make it yourself, and that’s just what I decided to do.


 

SUPPLIES: Needle and thread, hook and eyes, scissors, tissue paper (or tracing paper), some straight pins, a sample vest of any kind, silk lining (pictured below), a yard of faux fur, and a sewing machine.

HOW-TO: 
1. First you need to create a pattern…remember that vest you grabbed out of your closet?  I started making the pattern with the back panel first.  I used a thrifted denim jacket that I cut the sleeves off of — and cut it out (Note: I gave it about a 1.5 inch seam allowance on 3 of the sides, but about 2.5 inches at the bottom).
2. Here I used my tissue paper to trace one of the front panels to create a pattern for it.
3. Cut out the form you created and go ahead and pin it to your fur.
4. Next, cut out all 3 pieces and pin each side panel to your back panel (right sides facing each other).
5. I wanted a collar on my vest and used the collar on my denim vest again as a guide (Note: I made my faux fur vest collar about 4 inches longer and made the ends squared off then pointed).
6. After you’ve cut out your collar, pin in to the top of your back panel. Looking good so far.

HOW-TO CONT’D:
7. The under side of the faux fur was unfinished, kinda like carpeting.  So I opted to add a lining to mine. Therefore I used the patterns I created for the fur vest, to create another one with the lining.
8. Here I’ve started to cut out the front panels. Sew them all together the same way.
9. Now take your finished lining and fur vest and place them together (right sides facing each other), and use your straight pins to pin them together with a 1/4 inch seam allowance across the collar and down both sides of the front (Note: Leave the bottom hem open as well as the arm holes for now).
10. Now sew the two sides and collar that you just pinned.
11. You’re getting close, now flip the vest on the right side.
12. Take three hook and eyes and hand stitch them to the front of your vest.
13. Lastly pin the bottom hem as well as the arm holes, before you hand stitch them together, and you are all done!