The Eyes Have It

I am such an Amy Butler groupie. I used the free Lavender Eye Pillow pattern to create this birthday gift for my sister. Actually, it was supposed to be a Christmas present for her but the cleaning for her arrival took precedence over handmade gifts. And perhaps more importantly, I didn’t like the first set of material that I purchased and I didn’t want to work with it—amazing how fabric really does matter.

I found fun fabric at Jo-Ann Fabrics and about eight hours later, voila, an eye pillow was born. I struggle with matching fabrics (I don’t think I’ll ever learn to quilt for that reason) but think I did ok with this project.

While making the carrying case I ran into some trouble a few times where I had to rip out the same set of stitches twice but then I remembered the advice my older sewing sister gave me when I first bought my machine: “Follow the pattern. It may not make sense but it will all come together in the end.”

This is my first project in a long time and when I added the pin to the carrying case, I actually giggled with excitement. I think I’ve been reluctant to send it off (her birthday was the 23^rd) because I wanted to look at it some more.

materials:

pattern: www.amybutlerdesign.com > free patterns
eye pillow and carrying case: 100% light-weight cotton with a heavy sew-in interfacing
slip cover: washable satin
eye pillow stuffing: dried lentils, brown rice, and dried lavender
pin: $ .75 at a thrift store
total project time: 8 hours