Making a Bunny Hair Scarf aka Usamimi Tutorial…
Apr 27, 2010 by Violet
This usamimi tutorial is a reader request post, see I’m slowly making my way through them all!
Lately everywhere I turn around someone is wearing one of these funny little pointy scarves…
Image found via Google, credit to the owner (who I couldn’t find). I make no claims to own this photo and would be happy to remove it should the owner have a problem with it’s use.
Apparently the points are supposed to look kind of like bunny ears depending on how they’re worn. They seem to be really popular in Gal fashions at the moment! I don’t know how much these go for but if they’re anything like other imported accessories they can get pretty pricey! Anyway a couple of you have requested a tutorial on how to save some money and make one so here it is! ^_^
What you need for this particular usamimi tutorial:
I decided to go one step further on the saving money front and instead of using fabric I saved time and effort by using a pair of stockings that I bought but didn’t end up fitting :D They had a cute patten so I’ve been looking for another way to use them and this is perfect! So first step! If you’re using fabric, measure out how long you need the scarf to be (measure around your head and then add extra for the point little ears) and cut two long rectangles. Because I am using stockings I’ve skipped this step.
Now cut the ends into points. I folded mine in half to ensure that the ends were exactly the same shape.
If you are using normal fabric then sew down the straight sides to form a long tube (don’t sew the ends yet!). If you’re using stockings then you already have a long tube like below ^_^
Now get your thin wire ready! I am using 2 lengths of wire because the wire I had was too thin to shape the fabric properly. So cut a length of wire that is long enough to go all the way around the outside of your tube. Leave an extra few inches so there is room to tie the ends together.
Turn your tube inside out. Fold the wire in half.
Using your needle and thread, sew up the pointy end. Use a plain old running stitch, nothing fancy. I’m hand stitching because my sewing machines are all in storage but if you can use a machine or an over-locker I would definitely suggest it!
Now let’s start adding the wire, this is what will make the ear parts nice and stiff. Line the wire up with the point and starting from there use a blanket stitch to attach the wire to the edge of the fabric. When you stitch you should only pick up a few threads from the fabric, this will ensure that when you turn it inside out you can’t see gigantic stitches.
Keep going all the way down the side until you reach the other open edge. If you started out with fabric that you sewed together then you might just be able to weave the wire through the stitches you already made.
When you get to the other end use a running stitch to close up one side and then continue with the wire up the edge. You should have a little wire overlapping the edge which we will use to close it up later.
Now repeat along the other side but stop when you reach the opening.
Now using the hole, turn the whole thing inside out…
This is roughly what you should end up with…
And as you can see I have left over wire poking out from the top.
Cut the wire down so it’s only 1cm longer than the tip, then twist the two ends together and fold them down. And you end up with this:
Now hold it flat, fold the raw edges in and sew up the gap like in the picture below. Try to hide your stitches as much as possible by only poking through a tiny bit of the exposed fabric. Make sure to sew the points of the wire really well so it doesn’t pop through ^_^
You hopefully end up with something like this…
Which will hold it’s shape like this!
And when you put it on you will look something like this XD
So there you have it! They are really quick and easy to make and very popular right now ^_^ Let me know if you give the usamimi tutorial a go! |
Great tutorial, absolutely lovely!!!
:D Thanks Lib!
I love all of your posts so much especially the tutorial.
This tutorial is really helpful as I was intended to buy this bunny ears at first. But luckily I saw your post, and I do have a pair of cute socks which I haven’t got chance to wear. And now I could put it into good use! ^^
Thanks
Thanks so much for commenting! Oh that is good timing haha, let me know if you try it out :D
that is COOL!
:D Thank you so much Yumeko!
This is just perfect! I was just looking how to do those bunny ears and this is very close to that :)
^_^ Thank you! I’m glad you can find it useful, I think you could make proper bunny ears on a headband quite easily using this method.
WOW I hadn’t realized till just now how everywhere these were (especially while I was researching more fairy kei styles!)! Thanks so much for the tutorial, I think I’m definitely going to try this out today.
I so know what you mean, these things are *everywhere* right now! Good luck and let me know how you go with it :D
Aw! It’s so cute! I like your one better than the one in the google picture. The colours of your one also go so well with you hair, it’s all such soft fluffy marshmallow goodness!
:D Thank you! I much prefer cute marshmallow colour too ^_^
your so sweet and cute ^^ i love ur tutorials :3
:D Thank you so much Naka!
Resourceful as ever!! I love how you see something and figure out how it’s done :) I kinda do that too sometimes…but don’t end up doing it, heh.
:D Thank you very much! Haha I think I have one of those annoying brains that’s always taking stuff apart… or maybe I’m just cheap and hate paying for accessories ;)
really cute! damn you, stop making those cute tutorials, I need to work for school! (hahaha but not really I love them! ^^)
Haha time for an internet break! <3
So cuuute! I always look forward to your creations and tutorials, they are so unique and lovely. Thanks.
Aww anytime, I love doing tutorials like this for you all ^_^
They’re so cool! Shows how easy you can make things that would otherwise cost way too much! :-D
Exactly! Things like this are so simple and fun to make :D Take that budget!
This is super cute!
I love DIY tutorials, and this is nice and simple <3
good job!
Thank you! I love doing this like this too, they are nice and fun to make and don’t take forever ^_^
Ah gorgeous! And love the wire idea, I could twist a headband into all sorts of weird ways! I’m not sure how useful this fact is right now haha… but it will become useful!
You are totally right, you could wear it in all kinds of ways heehee ^_^ Hurrah for usefulness XD
Love this tutorial, thanks a lot!!!!
Aww no worries! ^_^
another great tutorial signed Violet!
Guess who’s giving it a try this week-end~ ^^
Oh yay! I can’t wait to see your results!
Cute! I love how easy to follow your tutorials are XD I think I’ll have to try this with some of my old stockings too!
Oh I’m so glad you find it easy to follow! Good luck with it :D
This is super cute! *.*
I’m definitely going to try this out!
Oh awesome! I hope you do, let me know how it turns out ok? <3
Cute bunny ears. I really really like them!
Thanks Rachel! Wow you’ve made a lot of comments ^_^ Thanks for taking the time to!
awww, cute! perfect for using up scraps!
do you reckon you could wash it, though? like in a machine? even if it’s got wire in it, or would it be better off handwashing it~
xx
Absolutely right! I personally wouldn’t wash it in a machine for fear of rust… maybe hand wash but I think spot cleaning would be better :)
Hi Violet!
So, I was looking for a usamimi tutorial and found your blog =)
I would like to use your tutotial on my blog, do you allows to me do it?
Thanks for attencion
hugs ♥
Hi Camila, I’m glad that you enjoyed my tutorial :) What excactly do you mean about using my tutorial on your blog? I don’t allow people to just copy-paste my posts. You are welcome to use 1 photo and link here as long as you do not remove my watermark from the photo. Feel free to email me if you have any questions :) Thanks!
Thankyou for this great tutorial! :D
But how long does the usamimi have to be?
xxx
No problem, I’ glad you found it useful ^_^ The length of the usamimi will depend on how big your head is and how long you want it’s ears to be. I suggest measuring with a piece of string before you begin :) Hope that helps!
thanks for the tutorial Violet! :D
No worries ^_^
So cute! I would rock it! Very 80′s…
Thanks Moon Bunny ^_^ I think they’re more 40′s, they remind me of the working war girls like Rosie the Riveter :D
thanks for this! I was looking at where to buy them but this is even better!
Glad to help!
Hi violet! I just wanted to let you know that I used your tutorial and made this (and posted it in my blog):
http://vanillateaparty.blogspot.com/2011/03/usamimi.html
Vanilla recently posted..Usamimi ♥
Thanks so much Vanilla, I’ll go have a look now :D
Hey! I would love if you added my links and photo to your readers! <3 thanks for being so sweet!Love
Vanilla
Vanilla recently posted..Crafriday ♥
Awesome! Thank you very much, I’ll add it next time I do an upload <3
Hi! I love this tutorial! You explained everything so well! I made my own today from this tutorial and i love it! I made mine from an old t-shirt with hearts on it. Thank you for this tutorial, as i couldn’t find a tutorial of one of these anywhere no matter what i typed into google! :)
Oh I’m so glad you tried it out :D Let me know if you want me to put pictures into the readers gallery or anything ^_^
Woow, this is a great tutorial :D!
Had a bit of a hard time turning it inside out but it turned out pretty well :)
Thanks for this tutorial!
No worries, let me know if you would like me to add your to the reader’s gallery! Glad you enjoyed it!
I made this! I really love it <3 http://mikoblogsit.blogspot.com/2011/11/usamimi.html
I had to hand sew it since I didn't bring my sewing machine with me to college but it came out great!
Thank you for the uber kawaii tutorial <333
That’s so cute! Thanks so much for showing me! You should totally submit it to my readers gallery :D