Warm Ears

I had hoped to pick up my parcel from Apple Saddlery yesterday that contained the Hands On Grooming Gloves. It's sitting at the post office, but when I arrived she had a huge pile of parcels to process, and mine was in that pile. I tried to look for it, but couldn't see it. I'm hoping I get a notification before I head out to the barn to clip later today.

So instead I will show you my latest craft project - helmet ear warmers!

It's been years since I've ridden in an unheated arena over the winter. Technically the arena is heated - but the heaters aren't working, and they aren't the priority at the moment (the joys of buying a property as-is that has been vacant for a few years!). My ears and my jawline get frozen really easily. I usually do the hunter-hair wings of hair over my ears in winter, but this year I think I might need more.

I whipped these up in probably 15 minutes. Unfortunately, it came together so fast that I forgot to take pictures for a tutorial. But they were super simple to make, so if you have any sewing skills you can probably figure it out.

Pony Grandma has mad sewing skills, so I raided her stash and the total cost to me was free. Thus I can continue my resolution of not spending any money.

I used a double layer of polar fleece. I made a paper pattern of the shape of my harness over the ear area, and cut out 4 pieces of polar fleece. For my Troxel helmet the shape is pretty symmetrical so I didn't have to worry about a front and back, other helmets might be different. Make sure you add enough for a seam allowance.

I stitched a square of the soft side of Velcro onto one piece for each ear. This will go on the outside.

Then I got an idea of where the stiff side of the Velcro straps would need to be placed by fitting it against the harness. I left them attached to the big square and cut them long enough so that they could be stitched in when I stitched the two layers together.

Next was to stitch the two layers together.  I took one of the pieces with the Velcro attached, and a plain piece, and pinned them right sides together. I stitched them completely along the two sides, and across the top I just stitched in a bit from the corners, which left an opening along most of the top to be able to flip it through once stitched.

I tested it before closing the hole and discovered that it kind of slid down along the harness when installed. This helmet has a liner that the stiff side of Velcro sticks to, so I cut a short piece and stitched it into the top seam when I stitched it closed.

And voila! Cozy ear warmers!

I plan to make a set for my One K helmet which I'm pretty sure has a different harness shape so I will try to remember to take pics along the way!