“I have to be alone very often. I’d be quite happy if I spent from Saturday night until Monday morning alone in my apartment. That’s how I refuel.”
(Audrey Hepburn: Many-Sided Charmer, LIFE Magazine, December 7, 1953)
Oh Audrey. You’re a girl after my own heart. The lady had style.
I’ve always wanted a sleep mask just like Holly Golightly. I mean, who wouldn’t? And our little glass lady needed a bit of full time adornment in her new spot, if you ask me. Something a little quirky and fun. So just in time for Halloween {and our bedroom redo} I decided to whip one up. If you can sew a pillow, you can sew this little mask, and it only takes a bit of time with mega fab results. Here’s what you’ll need:
{I put my own twist on the mask because it’s impossible to reproduce exactly, but here’s what I used}
• This pattern {sleep mask pattern} that I drew up – an easy way to keep the mask symmetrical
• The perfect blue fabric {In retrospect, something a bit thicker would have been nice, but I ran to the craft store quickly one afternoon and picked up this stuff with a bit of a satin sheen. If anyone can get their hands on some Tiffany Blue velvet… make it yesterday.
• Trim for the lashes {I found the best stuff by perusing the aisles}
• Little gemstones for the eyes
• Skinny rope trim for the tie back part- enough to go around your head + a small amount for the eyebrows in something like this.
• Trim for the edge in a thicker look
• A small sheet of felt for “batting”
• I also had some matching blue thread so that stitching wouldn’t be visible on the mask.
Here’s what I did: Using your fabric, cut out two sleep mask shapes. You can either cut out the mask pattern and then trace with white chalk, or put the fabric right over the printout {our fabric was thin enough} to trace and then cut. Repeat the same shape again, for the felt. These will be the front, back and inside pieces.
I then cut out two eye shapes by drawing out the first one, and then tracing it onto the second so they were identical.
These should be the shapes you’re left with.
Pin the eye shapes {a little more down than up – not on center} by pinching them a bit in the center, and pinning them to the sides. Gently sew them on by following them all the way around, except the actual flat lid part.
*If you wish to sew on your trim for lashes, go ahead and add the lash part to the bottom before you sew the lids. Sewing will make it more durable – I opted to glue mine because my mask was more for looks, and that super thin fabric made me nervous.
Place your piece with the lids face up, then on top of that, add the other blue side, and finally, on top of that, the felt piece. The idea is that once sewn together, they turn right side out, flawlessly. Just like a {somewhat complicated} pillow.
Sew all the way around, leaving a small opening to flip the white part inward, and the correct sides outward. I trimmed around the mask a bit to smooth out any bulky parts once it was outward, to my material didn’t pull. Again, in retrospect, something a little thicker works better.
Attach your tie by doing a quick top stitch on each side, once they’re cut to the correct length. I waited to do this, because the outer trim will cover it.
After that, add your rope trim on the top, carefully placing it around the edges as you go, with a nice little topstitch. Add your gemstones just under the lids so they’re peeking out -I did this with a dab of hot glue. I know Holly’s real mask had shorter lashes, but it looked so glam, I didn’t have the heart to trim it down. {Would you?} I then cut a bit more of that thin rope for the brows, and carefully glued them to the top, as it was a bit thin for me to sew.
Tada! In just a few steps, you have your very own Holly Golightly sleep mask.
If you have any questions, let us know… or if you try it, as always, we want to hear!
The kids think this touch of quirk is fantastic, and I love the frill it brings to my side of the bed. Maybe we’ll do Holly and Fred for Halloween. Except our hair color is reversed, so maybe I’ll just keep it on the glass lady until Emmy steals it. ;}
That, and we always spend so much time on the kids’ costumes… they’re officially to that point where I’m ready to throw some sheets on them with holes on them {all in the name of not caring, yet being so generic, it’s hilarious}… and call it a day.
See the rest of our bedroom reveal, here!
Have an inspired day!
Tania // Run To Radiance says
So cute!!! I really, really need to learn to sew more! My favorite part is the glitter eyelashes! š
Bethany says
I adore Audrey and Breakfast at Tiffany’s, so I just LOVE this! š