Make your own: Relaxing Eyemask

With an active co-sleeping three year old, with an even more active imagination, you can understand why our household doesn’t excel on sleeping through the night. Samira sleeps in bed with us and she can be very restless through the night. In the summer, she’s prone to waking with the sun, which at the moment is almost four o’clock in the morning. A couple of weeks ago, we met with my friend, Olivia and her daughter in the local park and she wondered what was wrong. When I told her about our sleeping dilemma she recommended a homemade eye pillow, like the one she’d made for her daughter, Lize. We decamped to her house for lunch and she gave me a quick tutorial. I haven’t sewed since home economics class in school so was dubious.

But after another sleepless night I decided that I needed to take action. I dragged out my gran’s old sewing machine and whipped up a bag, which I filled with lavender and flax. Samira is delighted with her “sleeping mask” and so far we’ve all enjoyed better nights since, so I thought I’d share my find with other readers.

• Pretty cotton fabric around 25cm by 25cm
  
• A sewing machine or needle and contrasting coloured thread to hand sew
  
• Flax seeds – 1.5 cups
  
• Dried lavender – 1 tsp
  

1. Fold the fabric in half lengthwise, creating a 12.5cm by 25cm rectangle. This size is sufficient to cover both eyes.
   
2. Sew the long side of the pouch and one of the two short sides of the pouch with a sewing machine or by hand. If there’s a pattern on the material, make sure it’s on the right side and facing inwards. Once sewn, you have a long, open-ended pouch.
   
3. Turn the pouch inside out so the seams are hidden inside.
   
4. Use a funnel to fill the eye pillow with flax seed and lavender.
   
5. Finish your eye pillow by folding the ends in and sewing the last short side of the pouch closed.
   

NOTE: Lavender is known for its antidepressant qualities and also helps relieve insomnia and headaches.