A Quick Guide to Making Your Own Facial Rounds
As anyone that has seen my videos knows, I hate waste. When I started making Paperless Towels, I wanted to make sure that, in my attempt to reduce waste, I was not creating waste. This means I recycle the packaging my fabric and thread comes in, I keep my outgoing packaging as simple as possible, and I use as much of the fabric material as possible. I have had to get creative in my uses of some of the smaller pieces (and am always looking for new ideas on what I can do with them) but one of my favorite things to do with the larger pieces is to make Facial Rounds!
I make my rounds 3” in diameter because that seems close to the standard single use rounds you can find at the store and my goal, like with the Paperless Towels, is to replace like with (reusable) like. Other than using as much of the flannel fabric as possible, the main reason I make these with my flannel is because it is such a soft material. When I am using these rounds on my face, I don’t want something stiff or scratchy. However, even though flannel is so soft, it also has enough grip to take away the makeup. I also use these as a way to remove nail polish. I have one round designated to that purpose and, even though it is very stained, it has really held up and does a great job getting that paint off. One round is enough for me to remove the polish off both of my hands. After I use it, I rinse the round under some cold water and, after it dries, it’s ready to be used again!
Below are the very simple steps I use to make these Facial Rounds. Feel free to alter any part of this process to meet your personal needs!
Things I recommend using to help you make Facial Rounds:
100% Cotton Flannel
Measuring tool
Cutting tool
Serger (also called an overlock machine), or a regular sewing machine
Small piece of cardboard (Optional)
A “can do” attitude
1. Find two pieces of material at least 3” in diameter. Facial Rounds are, in my opinion, better with two layers. To make sure they stay the same size, I cut my pieces out at the same time, wrong sides together (this way the pretty pattern can be seen from either side). I use my cutting pad and a rotary cutter but you can also mark the fabric with a pen and use a pair of scissors to get it down to size.
2. This step is optional. When I started making these I could not get them round so I cut a circle out of a piece of cardboard that I could use as a template. To get the perfect circle I drew around a cookie cutter, though a cup or anything else sturdy and round would work just as well. Now that I have had quite a bit of practice, I just leave my Facial Rounds as a square until I sew them, knowing my serger will trim off the corners for me.
3. Next step is to sew! Keeping the two pieces together, slowly turn the round as you sew. I overlap my beginning and ending stitches, which locks the thread in place. This means I can snip my thread right up against the fabric.
Those are my basic steps to making Facial Rounds. If you are new to the world of sergers, this is a great way to practice going around corners. It can be very frustrating in the beginning but you will get better if you keep at it. Start out by going slow, this is not a race. My first few “rounds” were definitely not at all round. I’m not even sure what shape to call them. I wish I could find them so I could show you how interesting they were!
If you don’t have a serger, you can use a tight zig-zag stitch on a regular sewing machine. If you are using a sewing machine, and you don’t want to cut these into circles, you can always make them Facial Squares instead 😊
Remember, if your Facial Rounds don’t turn out perfectly, they will still work just as well!
Let me know how yours turn out!
~Amanda
