heating pad tutorial

tonight i did a quickie craft and made a rice-filled heating pad for the happy baby (to pre-warm his bed before he goes to sleep at night) and i thought i’d do a tutorial in case anyone else might want to make one of these awesome things (they make great gifts!).  to make a heating pad you will need:

–flannel

–a few pounds of rice (no need to use “extra fancy”–i usually buy the cheapest rice i can find, but this was what i had on hand tonight)

–a funnel

–pins

step 1:  cut your flannel to the size you want your heating pad to be.  my fabric was 28″ x 12,” but you could easily have two 12″x14″ pieces instead, or pieces of any size you desire.  just keep in mind that if the pieces are a lot smaller*or larger** it might affect how your heating pad works.

step 2:  if you have one flannel piece, fold it in half, right sides together (or if you have two pieces, line them up right sides together) and sew three of the sides closed.  remember that the side you leave open is where you’ll be filling the channels, so choose at this point whether you want long channels or short ones (it will somewhat affect the direction your finished product will drape and it’s harder to fill long channels, but it’s mostly a design choice). then turn it right side out.

step 3:  sew the channels!  starting at the open end, sew parallel lines (perpendicular to the open end) down your fabric about 1.5″ to 2″ apart from each other.  continue until you’ve made channels through the entire piece (sorry this illustration is a bit hard to see.  if you’re confused, keep reading to the end of the instructions and i think it will become clearer):

step 4:  fill the channels with rice.  tuck the funnel into each channel and pour rice into the channel.  you may have to “massage” the rice down each channel, especially if they are a little on the skinny side.  leave an inch or two empty at the top of each channel.  that will make it much easier to sew up and will make the heating pad softer and more flexible when it’s finished.  if you feel like getting fancy, you can throw some dried lavender or orange peels into the rice to scent it.

step 5:  carefully fold over the unfinished edges and tuck in to hem the open end, pinning it closed.  although i don’t often use pins, this is a good time to use them as it will help keep your rice in place and make your life much easier.

step 6:  sew the pinned end shut.  you may have to support the weight of the rice in your hand so that it doesn’t drag the fabric out from under your presser foot.  also try not to sew over any rice grains as they might damage your needle.

step 7:  you’re done!  just trim your threads and you’re all set.  to use the heating pad, heat it in the microwave for 2-5 minutes (depending on the strength of your particular microwave), then use it to toast your toes in a cold bed or soothe achy back muscles or to warm up your baby’s bed (although i’d recommend not leaving the heating pad in the crib with your child while they sleep).

*i tried making hand warmers to keep in your pockets, but a friend confided that one of the ones i’d given her burned in the microwave when she was heating it up, so maybe small is not so good

**it will take forever and 10 pounds of rice to fill and will also take forever to heat in the microwave