When I first received the gift of a couple of bags of silk ties to use for sewing, several projects came to mind. One of these was the crazy quilt wall hanging, which I wrote about earlier in a four-part series, and you can find the final result at this post. Another idea was using the silk fabric to make eye pillows.

Because I have been fighting a nasty head cold all week, the soothing comfort of lavender across my aching eyes and raging sinuses appealed to me. Last night, while Ryan interacted with the girls, I decided to make an eye pillow. I chose a silk tie from my supply to begin. If you want to try this for yourself, you will need the following list of materials:

1 silk tie

1 cup dry buckwheat groats (or flax seeds or rice or other filling of choice)

1/4 cup dried lavender buds (and/or other herbs of choice)

thread

sewing machine (or needle and thimble if sewing by hand)

fabric scissors or rotary cutter and mat

ruler

pins

measuring cups

Since I had already washed the tie (you can read how I washed them here), the tie was ready for me to disassemble by carefully picking out the stitching on the back of the tie. I then cut a piece of fabric 4 1/2” by 8 1/2” from the large end of the tie, making sure to get the grain as straight as possible.

The tie was not large enough to cut two full pieces of that size. I considered using a second tie to make the next piece, but I decided to use one tie and piece together what I needed.

I aligned two pieces along the straight grain and stitched them together and then pressed the seam toward the larger piece. Then I trimmed it to 4 1/2” by 8 1/2” again keeping the grain straight. I aligned the two pieces of fabric with right sides together. Determining the right and wrong sides can be difficult with this type of fabric sometimes. However, even though I had pressed the fabric, some slight creases remained from the original tie shape, which helped me to make sure that I pieced this section together and got the front and the back of the eye pillow together correctly.

Once I pinned the front and back pieces together, I used a 1/4” seam allowance and sewed around three of the edges, leaving one end open to fill.

Using these lovely measuring cups in the shape of spoons that my mom gave me for Christmas, I scooped into the eye pillow 1 cup of organic buckwheat groats, which I had purchased from our local Friendly City Food Co-op, and 1/4 cup of lavender buds that I purchased from White Oak Lavender Farm.

Note: If you use glass jars or bags to store your bulk goods, these spoons are perfect for measuring ingredients. They can reach the ingredients without having to dump from the jar or try to reach down into the jar by hand. I have included an affiliate link here if you wish to purchase a set for yourself. Clicking on the image will take you to the product on Amazon.

I also decided to put one bag of herbal tea into the bag to add a variety of herbal scents, but this is completely optional. I tore open the tea bag and poured its contents into the eye pillow along with the buckwheat and lavender. (By the way, do you have any idea how many times I have misspelled lavender while writing this post because of reading Anne of Avonlea, where L. M. Montgomery spelled one of the characters Miss Lavendar with an “a” instead of an “e” in the last syllable. I have struggled to spell lavender correctly all of my life because of her choice of spelling!) :-)

After I had the buckwheat, lavender and other herbs in the pillow, I turned the raw edges under approximately 1/4” inch and pinned it.

I topstitched it closed, using about 1/8” seam allowance. After sewing that end, I decided to make both ends match by topstitching the other end, too, using the same allowance. That step was not necessary because it had been sewn closed previously, but I chose to do so because of my appreciation of symmetry.

And then it was ready for use!

Once you have completed the project, I suggest sipping a cup of herbal tea, lighting some candles, turn on some relaxing music, and lying down to enjoy the soothing scent of lavender…

If you have any questions about my instructions, please let me know! If you make one of these, please let me know how it turns out! You can leave a comment here or take a picture and post it on Instagram or Facebook and tag #hearthsidecomforts.

Happy stitching!

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Lavender Eye Pillow Made with Upcycled Silk Tie