The Quest for the Perfect Eye Mask
In my childhood, eye masks were only worn by Americans on TV. Carol Brady wore one, so did Maxwell Smart and Holly Golightly. It was something only worn by pampered movie stars. No-one I knew wore one. After all, we’ve got eyelids haven’t we? Isn’t it dark when we go to sleep?
But somehow I’m now a devotee of wearing one. And when I started mentioning it, it sounds like every second person owns one and wears it every night.
I wear one every afternoon and occasionally in the morning. Long covid’s fatigue is caused not just by physical exertion, but also by sensory exertion (such as light, noise, computer screens, social activities and emotional stress). Lying in a dark room with an eye mask helps the brain to rest, and I can’t begin to describe how good it feels. So you can see why I’m rather attached to wearing one! I don’t wear one at night; I can just imagine finding it at the bottom of the bed in the morning.
This is my current model, which my daughter gave me.
It was “surplus to requirements” in one of those gift packs from the chemist. You know the sort – an eye mask + beauty cream + scented candle, in a clear plastic box.
The mask has room for improvements. But first, the good things:
- The fabric is lovely and soft, and the mask is padded, so it’s very comfortable. Like a pillow on my eyes! It’s also absorbent, for when one’s eyes leak.
- The elastic is the right length and fits my head.
And the areas for improvement:
- Light seeps in either side of my nose. I get that this happens with most masks. Sometimes it’s OK, when I can tolerate some light or if I’m waking up and want to do it slowly. I’ve seen some masks with a separate triangle of fabric over the nose – would this help?
- The covered elastic band is bulky where it joins the mask, which digs into my temple if I lie on my side. If I lie on my back, I feel the ridge of elastic on the back of my head. The fabric covering on the elastic slips on my hair. A better choice could be a soft, wide uncovered elastic that joins further around the head.
Also, I would like to have a stab at making a zero waste pattern for an eye mask. Of course I would!
However, this won’t work as a finished shape. On eye masks, the elastic is in line with the eye level (just like the arms on spectacles) but needs to clear the top of the ear. You can see in pencil where I curved it up later on. But this is how much I would extend it so my temple isn’t lying on an elastic junction.
Also, for cutting multiples this arrangement would be OK as a repeat, but for a single mask I would put the curved edges together so the sides of the unit are square.
It’s had a preliminary try-on and seems to be OK as far.
Next step: find some soft fabric to sew a proper sample.
To be continued next week…
The way your brain works is like Magic!
Thank you Bea, lovely to hear from you. I don’t know if my brain is any more magical than anyone else’s, and it struggles these days, but I do have plenty of time to lie and think!
The best mask I’ve ever tried on was from an airplane company, with a triangle under the mask on the nose and yes, it does make a huge difference!
Yes! That is where I’ve seen the nose triangle. We had a couple of airline masks years ago. Looking forward to seeing how it goes with this mask.
I too am a dedicated sleep mask wearer! It started when I moved into an apartment with the bedroom across from a parking lot irradiated with the brightest all night lights, combined with not being allowed to change the flimsy shades in the bedroom. We sleep better in the dark! Now it’s habit, and particularly nice for mid day naps or when I travel.
I’ve been making my own masks for years now and your complaints resonate with me (as does how hard it is to test a mask on yourself!) I have found that making the eye covers slightly domed rather than flat really helps with light leakage around the nose. I start with a flat piece of dense cotton batting and then cut slits and overlap triangles of batting to shape the dome for the contours of my eye socket and nose. It makes for such a more comfortable and effective fit.
I’m very interested to see how your iterations develop! And zero waste!
Thank you Heather, this is SO helpful! We have some cotton batting, so I’ll give it a go.
This is interesting! I have one that’s curved like bug eyes, so they don’t rest on your eyes, & another with headphones built in, that have a stuffed ring that goes around the eye socket to block the light & keep them off your eyes
Both from the evil online empire
I have seen the bug eye ones and heard about how keeping the mask off your eyes feels nicer. The current mask touches my eyes (sort of OK with this), but I think it would be good to experiment with. Thank you!
You’re welcome
That whole ‘its touching my eyelid’ is what kept me from wearing them before.
These days I only need them when traveling. My room is black at night
Hiii I’m also a sewist with LongCovid and really appreciate your writing about how these things interact, and what costs you spoons/energy. I don’t sleep with an eye mask (though I haven’t tried in a while, maybe it would help!) but my significant other does, and theirs was coming apart so I mended it last month. It was fun to see how it came together since I’m still pretty new — but wow I should have made the elastic casing much bigger than 1.5″ including seam allowance!! Didn’t realize how hard turning would be!!
Anyway thanks also for sharing your zero wastey process for creating a pattern from something you already had. I appreciate you — wishing you lots of rest and a low-symptom day!
I struggle with writing about long covid but I’m always glad I do when I get comments like yours. I don’t want to come across as a complainer or sympathy-seeker, because I’m not, but as you know this thing affects every part of your life so inordinately it’s impossible to ignore.
Have just subscribed to your blog after spending a happy half hour scrolling through.
Sending many best wishes.