I am joining a group of bloggers who are creating sewing projects that can be used as little gifts or stocking stuffers. You can read more about this year long project at the bottom of my post. My contribution to this project is a reversible sleep mask. It is made using two coordinating fat quarters. This is a quick and easy sewing project.
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I am a design team member with Cricut.
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Materials:
- 2 cotton fat quarters
- scrap fleece **
- Elastic
- a personal cutting machine (Cricut Maker) or scissors
- SVG pattern or PDF pattern
- straight pins
- sewing machine
- coordinating thread
- Cricut EasyPress or iron
** fleece can be replaced with a recycled terry cloth towel, flannel, or fleece batting.
Directions:
See the PDF pattern for marking description on the pattern.
Cut the fabric using the pattern linked above. In the picture above I am cutting the cotton fabric with the back side of the fabric up to show how you would cut your fabric if it were a lighter color. Doing so would allow you to use the Cricut Fabric Marker to add the lines included in the SVG file. Since my fabric is dark, the marks would not show.
The image above shows the cut fabrics. Two cotton pieces (dark) and the scrap fleece (red). I used the SVG to cut the cotton fabric on a Cricut Maker and I cut the fleece using scissors. I did so to show that either form of cutting would work equally well for this project. As a general guide, I cut the elastic band to 15″ – choose a length that works for you.
It is important to layer the fabric sandwich correctly. Start with the fleece, then layer a piece of the cotton correct side up. Place the elastic band and pin in place, fold in the middle as necessary. Top this off with the other piece of cotton face down. Pin all the layers of the sleep mask together to prepare for sewing.
This is the entire project layered together ready to sew. The top layer of the sandwich has the top cotton piece with the backside facing up. You can see the pins around the sleep mask shape. The top two pins are used as guides to show where to start and stop sewing, leaving a slit at the top to turn the mask right side out. This is easier to see on the PDF pattern.
Because this piece is one large curve, sew around your eye mask at a slow pace making the stitching about 1/4″ from the cut edge of the fabric. I need to give a shout out to my favorite sewing machine. It is a Brother SE4500 (sewing and embroidery machine) and I bought it at Walmart.
Remove any remaining pins from the sleep mask. Cut the V shapes into the curve areas of the mask. In the nose area of the eye mask, cut slits into the fabric making the curve easier to turn inside out. DO NOT cut into the stitching.
The sleep mask right side out, notice the open slot at the top – where you can see some red peeking out.
Finger fold the open seam and pin closed. You can choose to hand stitch this seam closed and be finished. I chose to add a finishing machine stitch around the sleep mask which accomplishes similar results.
This is a close-up of the finishing stitch. If you choose to machine stitch, do so very slowly. Keep your stitching close to the outer edge, about 1/8″.
I used my EasyPress to iron the finished masks. An EasyPress isn’t necessary, mine is handily on my work table and easy to use. A regular iron works just as well for this project.
I created two sleep masks to show the reverse sides. They will be gifted to my daughters. I have enough leftover fabric to make more. I am thinking about making another one for myself and possibly having a few on hand for easy and quick gift-giving.
How the Little Gifts Sew Along Works
Every other Tuesday from January 1 through December 3, 2019, we’ll share a free sewing project for a little gift! These gifts are small enough to be “stocking stuffers” if you’d like to get a head start on holiday crafting, or you can gift them for birthdays and other events throughout the year. Each little gift will be made from 1-4 fat quarters of cotton fabric (or a yard or less of fabric, if you don’t have precut fabric on hand).
And, because sew alongs are more fun with prizes, we’ve reached out to some of our favorite companies to get some amazing end-of-SAL prizes. You can find out more about the prizes and enter for your chance to win here on Underground Crafter!
How To Join the Little Gifts SAL
- You can join in by sewing the projects as you have time.
- Share your progress and post pictures of your finished projects. Tag your projects and posts #sewlittlegifts and #stockingstuffersal on all social media.
- If you’d like to chat with other sewists, join the Underground Crafters Facebook group.
- By the end of the SAL, you’ll have up to 25 handmade gifts.
Visit Underground Crafter to learn more about the prizes, enter the end-of-SAL giveaway, and to get links to each Little Gifts Sew Along project as it is released.
A special thanks to Marie from Underground Crafter for organizing the Little Gifts Sew Along, what a great idea and I had fun working on this project.
