How to Make a Heating Pack
- By Alyssa
- 30 minutes
Just in time for valentines day! Make a DIY heating pack for someone you LOVE. You can make it in any shape, but considering the time of year, I am going to make mine into a heart (I also recommend this shape because it’s perfect for treating cramps.)
Unfortunately, this specific pack is not washable because you don’t want to rice to get wet, but if that is something you are concerned about, make a cover that is about the same size as your heat pack that you are able take off and wash separately.
Materials
- 100% Cotton fabric
- 100% Cotton thread
- The template
- Rice
- Basic sewing supplies
Related Products
Video
Instructions
Step 1: Cut the fabric
Print and cut out the template. You can find the template for free on our website. Like I said before, you can make this to any shape, but I would recommend it be about 1 square foot.
Trace and cut out two pieces using the template.
And I want to take a moment to stress that you NEED to use 100% cotton fabric and thread. And even then, you need to be careful about which fabric you are using because if there is printing on it that isn’t going to work, so look for 100% yarn dyed cotton. When in doubt, the Robert Kaufman Gingham fabric that I am using is perfect for this project.
Step 2: Sew
If you are using you own template, make sure that you leave a large enough opening to fill your heat pack with rice.
Sew the pieces with right sides together. ONLY sew the areas indicated on the template for this first round of sewing.
You are also going to want to sew the little “V” shape right at the top of your heart. Sewing here is going to make it a lot easier to close up the heart when the time comes.
Flip your project right side out and press the seams.
Press the seams of the opening so they match the rest of the project. This is going to be really helpful when you go to close the heat pack, so don’t skip this step.
Step 3: Fill with rice
Mark all of the grid lines that will make up your channels so you know where to sew after the fact. To begin with, straight stitch along the vertical lines.
Channels are important with this project, because once you are manipulating the pack you don’t want all of the rice to fall to one side. The rice holds the heat so you want it to be evenly dispersed.
Fill the channels with rice a little bit at a time. Once you hit the horizontal line on your grid, stop.
Make sure that the rice is packed pretty tightly and pin along the horizontal line. The more you pin the easier it is going to be to sew.
Use a zipper foot to sew as close to the rice as possible.
To get the rice into the channels, you can use a funnel. I didn’t have one, so I rolled up the template and taped it to make my own.
Repeat this process of filling the channels up to the next line and sewing until you reach the top of your heat pack.
Step 4: Sew Closed
The last section is going to be a little smaller than the rest. You are going to want to fill these sections as much as you can and then sew the openings closed using an invisible stitch.
If you have never sewn an invisible stitch, or if you need a little refresher, I am going to link that tutorial here – Invisible Stitch Tutorial
