Sweet Sleep!

Kellie is a wife, mom, tree-hugger and crafter. She blogs regularly at Greenhab and the Green Phone Booth.

Hello, I'm so happy to be back and blogging at Make It From Scratch! My two week vacation in April turned out to be a whole summer sabbatical as Mr. Greenhab and I traveled to Ethiopia to bring home our two newest children. We've had a crazy, busy, wonderful summer with all three of our kids and are now settling down into a routine.We're also compacting again, which means that we've made a pact to not buy anything new at least through the end of the year. This makes Christmas a little difficult, but I have lots of plans for homemade gifts this year.

Last weekend my dear sweet hubby got up early with the kids and threw me his little sleeping mask and some ear plugs. Wow. I could have slept all.day.long. After seeing a cute little eye mask in a magazine a few days later, I figured it was a sign and decided to whip one up for myself. Here's what I used: some scrap fabric left over from a tote bag I made for a girl friend, fleece left over from Christmas stockings I made last year, and some old ribbon.

I used my hubby's mask (do you think he'll be embarrassed that everyone now knows that he has one?) as a pattern, but you can draw one that works for you.

Cut out pieces from the front, back and any padding you'd like inside. In the photo above I've included some organic cotton batting I had on hand, but didn't end up using it since the fleece was so thick and soft.I'd really recommend using elastic for the part that keeps the mask on your head. The only elastic I had on hand (remember we're not buying anything new!) was stark white and just didn't go with this, so I used cream colored ribbon instead. It's really pretty with ribbon but you do have the extra step of tying the mask instead of just slipping it on when you're using it.


So you'll put the right sides together with the ribbon going towards the inside.


Because I'm a little obsessive-compulsive, I put the ribbon like this, sticking out the top #1) so that it didn't make everything bulky and #2) so that I would remember to leave a gap at the top for turning the mask right side out.


Pin and sew, remembering to leave a gap for turning. I can't tell you how many times I forget that darn gap!


Notch the curves so that it lies flat when you turn it. Turn right side out, iron, then top stitch. I used a contrasting red stitching that matched the red fleece lining.


The second one I made with some while elastic I had on hand, and I also added the organic cotton fleece batting to make it a bit thicker. If you're using the elastic, you do it basically the same way as the ribbon. Just measure it so that it will fit snugly around your head.

If you're adding some batting or other extra padding, cut it a bit smaller than the front and back pieces so that it's not quite as bulky when you turn it. I don't even worry about sewing the batting all the way around, I just catch a few stitches here and there as you can see from this photo:


You just want to make sure that the padding stays in place when you turn it right side out. Finish as described above. These are so quick and easy to make and make for great stocking stuffers. I added a little drop of lavender essential oil to the batting in this one to make it nice and relaxing.

Voila!