project: comforting eye mask

With Mother's Day coming very soon, I figured I should probably make something for my mom. She's always very forgiving when it comes to forgotten gifts, especially because I often give her the things I make. Actually, no. She's forgiving because gifts for "special days" aren't the most important thing about these kinds of days.

For this Mother's Day, I told her before I even made this, what I was going to give her, and that it would be on my blog for you to make for you moms too. She was cool with that, so today I have an eye mask that is easy to put together and will give a bit of comfort to mom! It's filled with rice so you can heat it in the microwave or chill it in the freezer and lay it across your eyes.



Here's what you need:
Wool or wool blend felt (I don't recommend the synthetic kind for this)
Embroidery floss
1/2 cup rice
Eye mask template PDF




Cut out two eye mask pieces. On one of the pieces, stitch whatever you like. I did rows of running stitch in different colors and different stitch lengths. (My mom's favorite color is orange, so I made sure that was in there!)



Sew around the outside with a running stitch, taking small stitches so the rice won't escape. (You could do this on the sewing machine, of course.) Leave an opening of about 1.5 inches.



Spoon the rice into the eye mask. You don't want it too full...it should be able to drape a bit. (You could add some lavender in there too, but my mom prefers unscented...it's better for her migraines.)



Sew the opening closed, and you're all set!



To heat, place in the microwave and heat in increments of 10 seconds until you reach the desired temp. To chill, place in the freezer for several hours. If you're giving this as a gift, you'll want to add a little tag with the instructions, so the PDF template has some tags included for you as well!

Please note: the chilled method isn't quite as effective as heating, but it does work surprisingly well all things considered!

Whether you have a mom who needs one of these, ARE a mom who needs one of these, or just are in need of some warm or cool comfort, I hope you enjoy making your eye mask!