You will be relaxing in no time with these quick and easy lavender eye masks!

One of my favorite herbs in the garden is lavender. Lavender is so very hardy, has a wonderful calming smell, and the flowers are so beautiful. The last couple of years I was blessed with a large harvest of lavender flowers. The flowers are dried for various uses around the homestead. From soap to lotion bars to beeswax candles, the uses are many!

A quick project I like to make with the dried lavender is lavender eye masks. This project sews up in less than 15 minutes, and you will be relaxing in no time! To make this project you will need dried lavender (we used about 1 cup or so of dried lavender flowers), rice, 1/4 yard cotton fabric, cotton thread, sewing needle, scissors, and your favorite sewing machine. You can also hand sew this project using a needle and thread, just be sure to keep your stitches nice and tight.

For this pattern, you will be creating 2 parts, the eye mask, and a case for the eye mask. I like having the option to remove the cover and give it a quick washing if needed. With your cotton fabric cut 2 rectangles of fabric 9″ by 5.5″. You will also need to cut a piece of cotton fabric 12″ by 5.5″ on the fold of your piece of fabric (this rectangle will be 24″ by 5.5″). Feel free to mix and match your fabric, this is a great stash buster project for the odd pieces of fabric you may have laying around!

To make your eye mask “inner”, pin right sides together and stitch your 9″ by 5.5″ rectangles together using a 5/8″ inch seam allowance. Leave a 1″ space when stitching to have a place to fill your eye mask. After you are done stitching, clip your corners, and turn your project right side out. Feel free to press your eye mask at this point, although the great thing with this project, you don’t have to iron!

It is now time to fill your eye mask. The ratio for filling your eye mask is 2 parts lavender to 1 part rice. Using a funnel, carefully fill your mask. Be careful not to overfill your mask. I have found about 3/4 of the way full is just full enough without the eye mask being too stiff. After your eye mask has been filled, carefully stitch the opening up using your sewing needle and thread.

Making the cover for your mask is very easy! Start by finishing the edges of your long rectangle. We turned in the edges 1/2″ and use a zigzag stitch to finish. Now you need to do a little measuring. Open up your 24″ rectangle and place it on a flat surface, right side up.

Next, take your completed eye mask and place it in the center of your 24″ rectangle. Then fold up the sides of your longer rectangle over the eye mask. It will look like an envelope with about a 1″ overlap in the fabric, and the wrong side of the fabric facing out. Carefully take your completed eye mask out of the cover, and pin your cover for sewing. I like to use my eye mask to help me measure the cover to ensure the cover will be nice and tight on the eye mask.

Using a 5/8″ seam allowance, stitch the top and bottom of your cover. Trim anything extra strings, and turn your cover right side out. You now have a “case” for your eye mask!

Now place your eye mask into the cover by putting the eye mask into one side, and gently folding the other side of the case over. You now have your completed lavender eye mask with the removable cover!

You can put your eye mask in the freezer for a cooling mask. For a warm mask, carefully put your lavender eye mask in the microwave for 15-30 seconds to heat the mask up. This lavender eye mask works great for sore muscles too! Quick, easy, and fun to make and use!