The finished teal satin eye mask on a cream background, with a pair of black thread snips and a threaded needle below it.

DIY Satin Sleep Mask Tutorial with Free Pattern

This DIY sleep mask tutorial will guide you through creating a mask using silky fabrics. While I have another sleep mask pattern tutorial up, that version features an adjustable strap. This pattern, however, uses a fabric-covered elastic strap.

I include a free pattern template although you will need to measure the back of your head to make sure your final mask fits you well. With that out of the way, let’s begin!

Table of Contents

Supplies Needed

  • Fabric Scraps
  • Batting/Wadding (You could also use felt or an extra fabric layer)
  • Firm elastic (approx. 30-40 cm, 1–2 cm wide)

Cutting

Using the mask pattern piece that you can download below, cut:


DIY Satin Sleep Mask Pattern

  • 2 pieces in satin fabric or silk (mask front & back)
  • 1 piece in batting/wadding
  • 1 strip for the elastic casing (see calculator below)
  • 1 piece of firm elastic (see calculator below)

Calculate Sleep Mask Strap

For the mask strap, you will need to find two dimensions, M1 and M2.

  • To find your Elastic Length (M1), measure the back of your head from the top of the front of your ear to the same position on your other ear.

Ear-to-Ear Measurement + 2 cm (¾ inch) = M1 (Elastic & Casing Length)

  • To find your Fabric Casing Width (M2), use the width of your elastic:

(Elastic Width x 2) + 2 cm (¾ inch) = M2 (Fabric Casing Width)

You will cut your casing fabric strip to M1 (Length on the fold) x M2 (Width).

Sewing Tutorial

Step 1: Cut and assemble strap

Three items for a mask strap laid out on a white surface: a rectangular piece of teal fabric, a paper pattern piece labeled "Mask Casing," and a piece of beige elastic.

Reminder than the strap casing is M1 in length and M2 in width and elastic is M1 in length as given to you in the calculator above.

A long strip of teal fabric folded in half lengthwise and stitched along the long raw edge, forming a tube.

Fold the casing fabric lengthwise, right sides together. Sew the long edge with a 0.6 cm (¼ in) seam allowance. Trim the seam allowance down to 0.3 cm (⅛ in) and press.

Turn the casing right side out and press flat. Using a safety pin, thread the elastic through the casing. Secure one end of the elastic to the casing with a pin or clip.

A blue fabric tube on the left, and on the right, a piece of beige elastic attached to a long metal bodkin tool.

Pull the elastic all the way through, then secure the other end with a pin or clip. Sew across both ends to secure the elastic inside the casing. Gently distribute the gathers evenly along the casing.

The teal fabric strap that is gathered and ruched, lying in a loop on a white surface.

Step 2: Sew the mask front

The white, fluffy batting piece cut in the shape of an eye mask, placed on top of a matching piece of dark teal fabric.

Place one of the satin mask pieces wrong side up. Place the batting piece on top, aligning all the edges. You can baste them together with a long stitch close to the edge to keep them from shifting. This is now your mask front.

Flip the front mask over so that the right side of the main fabric is facing you. Line up the ends of the finished mask strap with the notches on the mask.

The teal, ruched fabric strap is positioned horizontally across the front of the eye mask. A red sewing clip on the left and a clear sewing clip on the right secure the ends of the strap to the mask.

Sew the ends of the strap in place, about 0.3 cm (⅛ in) from the raw edge.

The teal fabric strap is now sewn onto the sides of the eye mask, with white stitches visible at both attachment points.

Step 3: Assemble the mask

Place the second satin mask piece on top of your mask front, with right sides together. Pin or clip all the way around the mask, but leave a gap three to four fingers wide at the top to pull out the strap later.

A teal fabric eye mask with colorful ball-head pins placed around its entire edge. A loop of the ruched strap is visible at the top.

The strap is now sandwiched between the two layers. Pull the strap out slightly through the gap as shown in the picture

Sew around the mask with a 0.6 cm (¼ in) seam allowance and leave an opening at the top to turn the mask right side out. Make sure to backstitch at the beginning and end of your stitching.

A teal eye mask with a line of white stitching following its curved shape, just inside the raw edge.

Flip the mask over so that the side with the batting is facing you. Very carefully trim the seam allowance of just the batting down to the stitch line.

The inside of the eye mask, showing a layer of white batting trimmed to the shape of the mask, surrounded by a teal fabric seam allowance.

Now make small snips on the curves around the nose area. Trim the seam allowance of the ends of the mask strap to reduce bulk. Then cut notches into the seam allowance on the outer curves like in the photo below.

The teal eye mask with its outer seam allowance clipped into small notches all the way around the curved edges.

Step 4: Finishing steps

Pull the strap out through the opening and turn the mask right side out. Use a blunt pointy tool like a chopstick to gently push out the seams.

A teal satin eye mask, now right-side out, lying on a cream-colored surface. The fabric is slightly wrinkled and the ruched strap is attached. There is an open gap at the top of the sleep mask

Fold the raw edges of the gap at the top of the mask inward and press them using a press cloth. Now close the gap with an invisible/ladder stitch.

I know this may seem like an annoying alternative to just topstitching around the mask but I promise the result is well worth it! Check out the video below for a tutorial on the invisible stitch.

Use a press cloth to do the final press. Your sleep mask is all done, congratulations! Let me know in the comments if you managed to sew your own mask.

The front of a teal satin eye mask lying flat on a cream-colored fabric background.
The back view of a teal eye mask, showing the ruched fabric strap stretching horizontally across the center of the mask.

Related posts:

  1. How to Sew a Sleep Mask with an Adjustable Strap
  2. Free Sanitary Pad Pouch Pattern and Step-by-Step Tutorial
  3. Heart-Shaped Fabric Coaster Free Sewing Pattern and Tutorial
  4. Free Full Circle Skirt Sewing Pattern

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