Rice Heat Therapy Bag with Washable Cover
Materials you will need:
- fabric scraps
- 1/4 yard linen or other fabric (I used this
linen blend.) - 1/4 yard muslin
- 2 lbs short or medium grain rice
- essential oil
- 4″ of 3/4″ wide Velcro
1. Cut Fabric
- 2 colored strips = 2″ x 7.75″
- 1 colored strip = 3″ x 7.75″
- short linen piece = 9.875″ x 7.75″
- long linen piece for back = 14.625″ x 7.75″
- 2 muslin pieces = 12.75″ x 7.75″
2. Sew front strips together using narrow 3/8″ seam allowance.
3. Fold over 1/4″ of one end of both the back and the front pieces. Press well with iron.
4. Now fold that same edge under 1″ and press well. Make sure both the back and the front are exactly 1″ wide.
5. Turn pieces right side up. Open up the crease that
you just ironed (but not the 1/4″ fold.) Center and pin the velcro to the right side of the fabric, above the crease but slightly below that top, folded edge. Pin the hook piece of Velcro to one side of the bag and the loop piece to the other side of the bag.
6. Sew Velcro in place. Using a short stitch length, carefully sew around all 4 sides of the Velcro.
7. Place right sides of bag together. Carefully line
up the top and sides. (Your Velcro will keep the pieces together, so no pins necessary!) Starting at the top (where the Velcro is), sew around three sides.
8. Trim seam allowance.
9. Fold Velcro edge to wrong side, using your creases as guides of where to fold.
10. Sew around the top edge of the bag, just below the Velcro.
11. Get your essential oil ready.
12. Place 2 lbs. rice in bowl, sprinkle with essential oil and stir.
13. Sew muslin pieces, with right sides together, leaving a 3″ opening on one of the short sides.
14. Turn muslin bag right side out. Fill with rice.
15. Stitch bag closed. (I shook all the rice to one end
and machine-stitched the bag closed. It is tricky, but doable.)
16. Place muslin bag into linen bag. Velcro closed.
I also made a smaller bag with buckwheat and peppermint oil. This bag is for the freezer. I’ll be making one of these for my daughter in shades of green. A “boo boo” bag. She heads for the frozen peas any time she is injured, so maybe this will appeal to her.
I also made a smaller bag with buckwheat and peppermint oil. This bag is for the freezer. I’ll be making one of these for my daughter in shades of green. A “boo boo” bag. She heads for the frozen peas any time she is injured, so maybe this will appeal to her.
I made an eye pillow stuffed with flax seed. This is also for the freezer. I was lazy and didn’t make the washable cover for this one–just filled the pillow with flax and sewed it closed. I thought the oil might be too much when it is right next to your nose, so it is odorless.
All three items are going in a “Wellness Bag” which I’ll tell you more about on November 30, when we’re presenting gift compilation ideas.
Since these are being mailed to my gift recipient, and I won’t be there to explain them.
Enjoy!
Edited to answer questions….
I think cooked buckwheat is known as kasha, but you want to get the unroasted kind for freezer bags.
I bought buckwheat and flax seed (also raw) in bulk at the natural foods grocery.
I poked around a little and didn’t find any warnings or concerns regarding Velcro in the microwave. (I suppose you could use buttons–that would be very cute.) I didn’t find any warnings about essential oil in the microwave either, although I confess that I didn’t look hard. Does anyone have any information regarding the safety of either of these in the microwave?
As for the timing in the microwave, I’d start with 1 minute and go up to 3 minutes.
I’m glad so many of you are enjoying the tutorial!
Edited again….
Start off with 8–10 drops of essential oil. Stir it up and sniff. Ask someone else to smell it too. I needed only about 10 drops of peppermint, but I used at least twice that much of tangerine. I think it really depends on the oil.
I think that the weight of the buckwheat is comparable to the rice, so yes, about 2 lbs should do it.
