Finished: Ruched Eye Mask

I have so much exciting news to share! First and most importantly, the second most terrible heat wave of 2013 has ended, at least for NYC, and at least for a few days. I've heard that the rest of the states and the other countries have been suffering as well so hopefully that's the case everywhere.

On Thursday and a bit on Friday, I changed my website thanks to a friend who redesigned my header. Rachel doesn't just design lovely things on the computer however, she also designs textiles/fabric (!!), and she's the main reason I started sewing and crafting in the first place. Go read and see what this talented and amazing woman creates over at the The Hollywood Sew!

In other very exciting news, Novita from Very Purple Person did a tutorial and finding or making the right bra for you. I linked to a bra calculator when I created the Jasmine bra, and if you're anything like me, your eyes bugged out a little and you laughed and rejected the number. However, it's actually one of the best bra calculators and Novita does an amazing job of explaining how bras should fit and why and I think it should be required reading for every woman who chooses to wear a bra.

And finally, I have no skivvies updates for you because I got lasik surgery over the weekend! 

I've had terrible vision ever since I could remember. I was very near sighted, and I also had an astigmatism that made my near sighted even worse (I could only see things 3 inches in front of my face or closer). Because I had a drastic vision difference in each eye on top of the astigmatism, glasses couldn't fix my prescription. It was either contacts or surgery. I've been waiting for my prescription to settle (i.e. not change every year) and my current stash of contacts to run out before I underwent the procedure.

And now I have 20/20 vision! This is freedom that I've wanted for a long time. I can stay out later at night, sleep over at friend's houses, take naps, open my eyes under water, go camping, survive an apocalypse, get arrested - the sky's the limit!

(Note: I could technically do most of those things before, but I would have to stop and buy contact solution or carry my glasses and then take out my contacts when it came time for bed - and honestly I don't carry my supplies with me because it's a lot and usually it's unnecessary. And as for the doomsday and jail comments, one slip and my glasses fall off and break and I'm doomed. DOOMED!)

So I was trying to make curtains in time to black out the light in my bedroom as I would be getting home from surgery at exactly the same time that the sun blasts in the window. Did I finish in time? Nope.

So my second idea was to make an eye mask.

I've been wanting an eye mask for awhile because the air conditioning blows right on my face at night and dries out my eyes and mouth. Not fun. I did actually start to sew one with jersey, but then i had the bright idea of embroidering it and... let's just say embroidering on jersey was a very bad idea.

The boyfriend told me it looked great, especially for a first try, so I did grab it back from out of the trash can, but I never attempted to finish it. Then sometime last week I realized it would be much easier to just knit something so I found this ruched eye mask pattern on ravelry and there you go.

I have to wear these weird goggle type glasses to bed so I don't rub my eyes in the middle of the night (um, even though I still do - so painful!) and the mask slides right over them. You actually can't even see the goggles!

I think I look a bit like I'm dying in these pictures. I'm under strict orders to wear no make-up for a week, and also I may have panicked a bit right before they started (as you're awake during the surgery) and so I got extra doses of Valium and so I was exhausted the entire weekend.

For the tie, it was suggested that a ribbon be used but I was pretty sure the knot would interfere with my ability to sleep on my back so I did a simple garter stitch across the back and then sewed the edges to the mask.

I used a super bulky yarn on a US size 7 needles to get this effect, which is that it's rather thick and no light comes through. My stitches were a little tight which made the ruching really difficult, but it worked out in the end. Perfect for what I was looking for. The boyfriend thinks it's a little large on my face, but I really like it.

The boyfriend has also decided he needs a sleep mask too, so I am trying to find a "manly" pattern for him.

I hope everyone else had a great weekend as well!