DIY Sleep Mask

This sleep mask was one of the handmade Christmas gifts I made for family and friends. I thought this one would make a nice first DIY tutorial after Christmas. I hope everyone of you had the most enjoyable holidays! Mine were just great and full of coziness, friends and food. But enough of that, in case you crave for some sleep after your busy, noisy Christmas days, here's how to make yourself  this adorable sleep mask.

Supplies: Two different fabrics for back and front side of the mask. A piece of fleece as inlay. A sewing machine plus needle and thread. A piece of 3/8 inch elastic band, 20 inches long if moderately stretched. Scissors. A fabric marker. Some pins.
[1] Get a pattern for a sleep mask. I took mine from a mask I already had, tracing the outline and adding a seam allowance, but you could just as well google for one. Okay, you've got your pattern. Now cut out one mask-shaped piece from all three fabrics and an additional piece measuring 20x4 inches.
[2] Fold the rectangular piece in the middle (getting a 20''x2'' piece), right sides together, sew it close following the longer edge. You have then a 20''x2'' piece that is open on both ends. Like a tube!
[3]Turn the tube right sides out. This could get a little complicated with such a narrow tube. Use a crochet hook or something else that's long and thin for help. Press or iron the tube flat and sew a decorative seam along both edges like shown in the picture.
[4] Pull the elastic band through the tube. For that, tie one end to a crochet hook and pull it through until the other end lines up with the edge of the tube. Fixate the elastic band by sewing the opening close. Quite smart, right? Now pull the elastic all way through, untie the knot and fixate the other end of the elastic by sewing the other opening close. This should now look like in the picture above.

[5] Now it's time to put everything together. Stack your fabric pieces and the elastic tube piece like in the picture, starting with the inlay, then the first piece of fabric, right side up, next the elastic (pin both ends to the outer edges of the sleep mask and cover with the last piece of fabric, right side down. Pin everything together.
[6] Sew along the outline of the sleep mask but don't forget to leave an opening of about 2 inches!
[7] Turn the sleep mask right sides out and hand stitch it close using the invisible mattress stitch. We're almost done!
[8] You could leave this last step out but my sleep mask looked a bit bulky in the end and I wasn't pleased with how the edges looked. So I sewed another decorative seam around the mask a little distance away from the edge. Worked perfect for me! Done!