Free Eye Patch Tutorial

For all you parents who lovingly patch your little ones.  Make these, give them away, but just don’t sell them!  These are inexpensive, light weight, covering, re-usable, and have a smooth texture.  They can be personalized to fit your child’s personality and the shape of their glasses. The idea came to me late one night from trying all the patches on the market and they have worked well for Elly and hopefully may work for you.  It was designed for those of you in Miraflex in mind – hopefully it will work!  It can and should be adapted to best fit your child’s needs and glasses.  I can make each patch in less than 3 minutes and could make at least 50 of them for less than $5.00.  If you can tie a knot and push a needle back and forth, you can make these!

Materials

craft foam, needle, thread, scissors, knife, tape, and the pattern

The following tutorial will demonstrate how to make a right left eye patch.

1. First cut out your foam pieces, add any extra fun pieces that you may want.  Remember, the more you add, the heavier your patch will be.  Linked here (Patch Pattern) is a pdf pattern of the main patch pieces.

2.  Assemble the pieces and hold them together with your fingers to make sure you are making your patch go the right way.  Sew your embellishments on to the rectangular section first.

3. Then, using a simple knot and a straight stitch, attach the rectangular piece to the main patch on the bottom.

4.  Fold the V in until the edges are touching and stitch through all 3 layers; top, front, and over the glasses pieces. (see, your stitches don’t have to be pretty!)

5.  Then place a square piece of tape on the triangular side.  This is to make the opening where the temples go through just a little sturdier.

6.  Using a knife or other sharp object, make a hole large enough for the temples to fit through.

And you are done =)    Well, with the patch part… here is how they go on the glasses.  I told Elliana that it was my job to put them on and off for the safety of the glasses.  These patches will fit snugly and I put them on slowly.  I made 2 patches and they each lasted me over a month when put on by a parent.

First slide the temples in between the main patch and the rectangular piece.  If you have cables, making sure the ends get in the smaller hole is a little tricky.  Those with Miraflex, I think you can take the band off.  If not, e-mail me and I will think of something.

Then pull through until the patch sits comfortably on the glasses.  I trimmed with my scissors around the nose piece so the patch sits inside of the plastic and a bit from the top so it rests comfortably on their forehead (thats why it is easier to make the pattern bigger and cut to fit).  If you have the regular nosepiece, then you could make a vertical slit for the nosepiece to fit into

.

Last and not least, have your child try their glasses with the patch on.  Make sure it is not rubbing or irritating, trim with a scizzors to make it a perfect patch for your child.

Almost forgot… we learned the hard way… DON”T use red or dark pink like my pictures.  When they sweat the color comes off and turns the skin pink.  I would use light pink, blue, white, yellow and other light colors.  If you do make a patch, please send me a picture to post.  I have a couple more that we have been using daily – pictures of them to come later!

7 responses to “Free Eye Patch Tutorial

  1. Love these, my patching kids (4 yo boy, 6 yo girl) will be tickled to go out and get some “special” light colored craft foam to try this project soon. I’ve been hand-sewing with felt and scrap fabrics, and my sewing skills are so rudimentary, I rarely finish one. 😉 Thanks!

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  2. I am back again… There are so many wonderful news, inspiring stories, and great tips to acquire. No wonder I can’t help coming back from this website. I am really so grateful I have found this website and I will definitely include this to my top visited blog sites because it is so true and pure. Keep us updated always.

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  3. Hi! I just made a patch for myself tonight for my new glasses. I am 31 and I know my eyesight in my left eye probably will not improve, but I am doing it to keep from losing the muscle and having it turn out. So I made a patch and took some photos and wondered if I could share them with you. It is modified a little but it is your pattern. I have it on now and I can say my eye muscle is going to be nice and sore tomorrow. 🙂
    Thank you

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  4. Great resource! My PO told us today that my 2 year old (who started wearing glasses at 17 months) will need to start patching. I didn’t want adhesive, since she has very sensitive skin, so the reusable patch reviews and these instructions to make my own are PERFECT for us just starting out. She was very good at keeping her glasses on from the start (it helps that mom and dad have glasses), so hopefully this will not be an ordeal- wish us luck!

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  5. Pingback: Crafty things « little four eyes·

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