Posts Tagged ‘lavender’

I have so much lavender in my garden, and I love finding ways to use it.  Making a lavender eye pillow is a perfect fast project… and they make a wonderful homemade gift for friends.  You’ll also want one or two for yourself of course.

I harvest my lavender in the morning on a dry day.  I tie off the end of my bundle with a rubber band and then, with twine, tie a slip knot bellow the rubber band.  I dry my lavender in my basement, which is fairly dark and dry.  It takes between one and two weeks to dry completely.

To remove the flowers from the stems, place the dry lavender bundle in a large dishcloth and roll with a rolling pin.  Most of the flowers will come off and you will be left with just the stems.  Shake the blooms into a bowl.  For a small amount lavender, I run my fingers down the stems and the flowers fall off.  The girls love to help… they both love the smell of lavender as much as I do.

You can also use the lavender flowers in a sachet for your drawer, a wrist pillow for the computer or in a long neck pillow for traveling.

To make a lavender eye pillow, I found a great free pattern from Amy Butler.  Her pattern even includes a pattern for a cover and a carrying case.

To make this eye pillow you will need:

• 1/2 cup dried lavender
• 1 cup of flax seeds (Amy Butler’s pattern calls for 1/2 cup beans and 1/2 lentils or rice- I like the feel of the flax seed better). My local supermarket sells flax seed in a bulk bin in the Natural Foods section.
• Muslin for the pillow (two panels 4 1/2″ x 10″)
• Fabric for the slipcover (one front panel 5″ x 10″ and two back panels 5″ x 6 1/2″)

Here is the flax seed with lavender.

The pillow could not be easier, I sewed all the way around three sides, leaving a thin end open.   Then pour in the mixture.

Fold the end in and stitch shut.

I made the cover out of scraps of fabric from another project.  I pieced it together to have enough fabric.

Stuffing the pillow into the cover was a little challenging, but it does go in.

This lavender eye pillow is ready to use.  You can place it in the freezer for a refreshing cool down… this is especially nice when my eyes are swollen and puffy from allergies.   You can also place it in the microwave for 20- 30 seconds to warm it up.  Just be careful not to over heat… you don’t want it too hot on your eyes!  Heating it really makes it smell wonderful and feels so relaxing.

Silk or linen fabrics are wonderful for eye pillows.  This would be a great project to make out of an old silk shirt as well.  I also made one from an old linen pillow case that had gotten a few holes.

Lavender is so good for relieving stress… I hope you love making and using a lavender eye pillow as much as I do.