Wednesday 3 January 2018

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!

5 comments:

  1. Too bad heat is not a priority with the owner. I assume you are paying for a heated arena.

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    1. Well, the board rate hasn't gone down since the heaters haven't worked! It hasn't affected me until now since I couldn't ride for the last couple of months. I was hoping it would be fixed by the time I was ready to start riding, but no luck. I haven't spoken with her about it, so it could be higher priority than I think.

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  2. Those are great. I went to Marks Work Warehouse and bought the helmet liners for construction workers. it fits well under my helmet and keeps my ears warm but if I'm not careful sometimes it creeps down over my eyes :D not a good thing....

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    1. I get pressure headaches easily from thing that go around my big noggin so try to avoid them. I do have a helmet/neck cover thing that I got at Greenhawk a few years ago, but it's usually too warm to ride in. Might have to dig it out this year though.

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  3. great idea! my friend has a cover that goes over the hat and around her ears, neck and face - probably similar to the one you have. she loves that thing tho! i usually make do with just a scarf but lately it's just cooollld

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