Hops and lavender sleep pillow
A small cloth pillow filled with hop cones and lavender flowers, kept under the bed pillow. A textile practice from Bavarian and Austrian households.
Steps
Cut a small bag
A square of linen or fine cotton, about twenty by twenty centimetres. Two pieces stitched on three sides, the fourth side left open for filling.
Fill with the two herbs
Roughly two parts dried hop cones to one part dried lavender flowers, until the bag is loose but full. The hop scent is the dominant note, the lavender is the lift on top.
Close and place
Stitch the fourth side closed. Slip the pillow under your regular bed pillow or set it on the nightstand. The scent is meant to be present but quiet, not heavy.
Refresh when the scent fades
After two or three months the hops will smell flat. Open the seam, tip out the old herbs into the compost, refill with new ones. The bag itself lasts for years.
Both herbs are considered well tolerated as a scented pillow. People with known allergies to compositae or grass pollen should test a small amount of the dried hop cones nearby for a night before keeping the pillow next to the head. Not suitable for infants under twelve months, who should sleep in a clear cot. Wash the outer cloth occasionally; do not wash the herb filling.