I was relaxing on Friday night and got the urge to sew something. (Was up til 1 in morning!)
I’ve been meaning to make a Rice Heating Pad for ages, so that was my plan.
I recently purchased some fabric off of eBay and this was the perfect use for it. All I needed was fabric, rice, essential oils and a sewing machine!


I checked online and researched how others made theirs, and then got to work.


I cut and pressed two pieces of fabric (13 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches) and with the right sides facing each other I sewed the bottom and the sides together.
I snipped the two bottom corners off a few mm’s away from the stitching. Turned it the right side around and folded the top inwards about 1/2 an inch before pressing it.


Then it was time to make the channels the rice would go in.
I measured from side to side and marked roughly two inches between each channel. Then just sewed along every mark from top to bottom.


I mixed some peppermint and lavender essential oil into the rice to give it a pleasant scent.
I got my youngest to help me fill in the channels. If only we’d had a funnel! Made a little bit of a mess, but luckily we got it all cleaned up. hehe


I found that it’s best not to fill them too much or else the pad won’t be very flexible. About 1 1/2 inches from the top suited me fine.


Then I top stitched the top of the pad shut and I was done! To give it a more finished look I actually top stitched all the way around.


I was so happy with it that I made a larger one for my mother. Then I realised the fabric for hers was a lot thinner than mine! So I made an envelope cover for hers.


I cut out two slightly larger pieces of fabric (1/2 inch larger than pad on top and sides) pressed them and sewed three sides together with the right sides facing.
I clipped the corners again, turned it the right way around. Folded the top down like before and pressed the whole thing.


I measured it against the heating pad to decide how big it had to be to hold it, and figured out how large I wanted the flap.


Folded it to my desired envelope size and pressed it again. Then I top stitched all the way around the cover which included the envelope flap. It fit and worked just how I’d imagined it! Yay me!!


Next time I’ll use muslin or something relatively inexpensive and not-so-special for the heating pad itself and then make a pretty decorative cover. That way if I mistakenly burn the heating pad, I still have the pretty cover to use for the new heating pad.


I just stick my heating pad in the microwave and heat it anywhere from 30 seconds to 1 1/2 minutes. The time will vary depending on the microwave of course.


I am in love with this heating pad! It feels so much better on my back than my hot water bottle. How did I survive without it?!?!