If you’ve got a Disney trip planned any time in the near or far future, chances are you’ve stumbled upon some adorable character themed Disney mouse ears in your planning process! There are many many adorable etsy shops that sell pre-made mouse ear headbands but they can be costly. I needed to make a bunch of ears for all of the girls in our family so I thought going the DIY route would be easier on my band account! I think overall it was definitely cheaper to make the mouse ears myself but it was tricky and time consuming for sure! Each set I made got easier and easier but it was certainly a process to figure out! If anything in my explanation is unclear or you have questions please don’t hesitate to ask them, or hop over to instagram @sweetersidemom if you need a quick answer and I’ll get back to you asap.
I credit all info I used to make this tutorial to one of my best friends’ sisters- Lauren! You rock, woman. Seriously.
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Materials:
1/4″ foam if you can find it (I couldn’t find it so I used 1/2″)
scrap cardboard for templates
5″ pieces of fabric for the ears (you don’t need a lot and you can buy these small increments from JoAnn’s!) *note of you make your ear size different from mine you may need a different width piece of fabric)
bows, patches, ribbon, embellishments of your choosing to go with your character theme (my princess bows are from Jenta2be and my starbucks bows are from etsy shops. I’ll explain how to make your own super easy boys in the tutorial).
Headbands (Grosgrain Ribbon Wrapped Headbands
Hot glue gun and glue sticks
sewing machine supplies
pins
glasses to trace as ear templates
Method:
- Create templates for the round ear shapes with glasses. I used two different width drinking glasses for this. The outer circle is how big to cut the fabric. The inner circle is where you will sew (for the seam allowance).
- Trim your template against the headband so they will sit nicely when glued on.
- Use a pencil to trace your templates onto fabric that’s been folded over once (you’ll cut two circles at a time).
- Make sure to trace your inner template too adjusting the template enough to compensate for the area that you trimmed to fit snuggly against the headband. The two little lines you see in image 4 are my “start” and “stop” points for sewing. Cut these circles out. Then use the inner circle template (the smaller one) to cut our your foam pieces. This is annoying to do with scissors but you’ll get the hang of it after a few cuts! Just go slow and press the foam together with your fingers to make a smoother cut.
- Pin two circles together for each ear. If your fabric has a pattern, pin right sides together.
- Using the smallest stitch your machine can handle, sew your circle on the pencil line starting and stopping with a back stitch or two. I stitched an example of why you need a small stitch in the image below. Tiny stitches create a smoother curve!
Trim your sewn circles. This is a trick I learned down the line to make the ears turn right side out easier: cut little triangles out of the edge like the diagram below. 
Turn these circles right sides out and stuff with your precut foam circles. This can be tricky (really tricky!) but be patient and gentle. I found that a larger blunt end knitting needle helped a lot to maneuver the foam around properly inside each mouse ear. - Once your pieces are all assembled, lay your headband down and use a pencil to mark where your ears need to be glued on the headband. Tuck unsewn edges of ear pieces neatly under themsleves then glue. After the mouse ears are in place, glue on the bow and any embellishments you are adding.
*To make your own fabric bows (like the donald duck and winnie the pooh ones I made), simply cut out two rectangles of fabric. If you want a nice big full bow, you could use a whole 8.5″ x 11″ piece of paper, fold it in half the short way, and use that as your template. If that’s too big, go smaller and use a 4″x5″ rectangle or any size you wish! With right sides together, sew the rectangles together leaving a 1/2″ or so open to turn the rectangle right side out. Pinch the rectangle together at the center to create the cute bow shape, then use felt or more fabric to wrap around the center point.
That’s it! Super cute, right?!
Karen says
How big are templates ??
Hayley says
I remembered this post from forever ago when you did it, and came back to make ears for our disney trip! Thank you so much for sharing your process, they are all adorable!!