How to Make a Soothing Lavender Eye Pillow
Lavender is a well-loved scent in our house, especially at bedtime. Research suggests it may be useful for treating anxiety, restlessness, and insomnia, so I say bring on the lavender!
I keep one of these eye mask pillows beside my bed in case I need a bit of help mellowing out before I drift off to sleep. In addition to their soothing scent, the flax seed and buckwheat hull filling provides gentle pressure to tired eyes. I sewed up a bunch of these up using fabric scraps and ingredients from my local bulk food store. They also make great host and teacher presents, and are perfect to gift to overnight house guests.
Here's what you'll need to make your own:
Fabric (I used linen for mine, but you could use any natural fabric that feels good on the face)
Sewing supplies (scissors, pins, sewing needle and thread in a coordinating colour)
Sewing machine (optional- hand stitching will also work for this project as long as your stitches are nice and tight)
Flax seed, buckwheat hulls and dried lavender for the filling (How much you’ll need depends on the size of your pillow. I used about 1 cup of flax seed, 1/2 cup of buckwheat and 3 heaping tablespoons of lavender)
Step One:
Cut your fabric. For each pillow, you’ll need one front piece and one back piece. I like my eye pillows nice and big so I cut my two pieces 4.5'“ x 11”.
Step Two:
Lay your two rectangular fabric pieces on top of each other (if there’s a clear front and back to your fabric, lay the pieces right sides together) and pin together.
Step Three:
Sew around the edges with a running stitch or your sewing machine, staying a 1/2” away from the edge. Leave a 2” wide opening unstitched (this is where you’ll fill up your eye pillow) along one of the short edges. If you’re using a machine, don’t forget to back stitch at the beginning and end to secure your stitches. Trim the four corners of your rectangle.
Step Four:
Turn your pillow right side out through the opening. Use chopsticks or a knitting needle to gently push out the corners.
Step Five:
Fill up your pillow. Mix the lavender, flax and buckwheat in a bowl. Make a funnel by shaping a piece of paper into a cone then pour the filling in. I filled mine about 3/4 full.
Step Six:
Close up your opening using an invisible stitch or sew along the edge with your sewing machine.
That's all there is to it! Test out your new eye pillow with a nice long snooze.