Warm Hands make Warm Hearts

Just another quick tute on making rice hand warmers.  I'm sure you have seen these around for a good while and, I have to confess I have made quite a few as well as larger ones for soothing backaches and sore shoulders.  This set is a small gift for my daughter on Valentine's.  She is an assistant Div. I golf coach and they use hand warmers quite a bit.  This set was made from scraps from my latest pillows.  I keep saving scraps and finally made myself make something with some!  I have another project using scraps for my other daughter that I hope to share soon!

So, it's for Valentine's Day, right?  Why not a heart hand warmer?  

Make a template.  Remember how you cut out hearts as a kid?  Fold the paper and cut out half a heart so it is symmetrical.  But, it doesn't have to be perfect.  No, not at all!  I think next time I will   get a little more dramatic and have fun with it

Materials used:

100% cotton fabric. pre-washed

100% cotton thread

dry rice

You need to use 100% cotton fabric and thread because these babies are gong into the microwave to heat.  You don't want your fabric and thread to have a meltdown in there - trust me on this.

Trace the template onto the wrong side of the fabric.  I took a shortcut and pinned all 4 pieces together to cut.  Oh, I forgot to mention you need 4 fabric heart pieces.  But, you probably already figured that out :)  Pin 2 heart pieces together with right side of fabric facing each other.

I started sewing (back stitching at the start)  on one side of the heart

Sew all around the heart leaving a 1-1/2" or so opening.  Back stitch again to keep this from unraveling when you turn it right side out.

Turn them right sides out, then press.

Now, it's time for the rice (or other dry bean, lentil, or grain filling you choose.  I used rice this time but I have also used lentils.  I think they seem to hold heat longer.

I rolled up my template to use as a funnel.  Sorry, I didn't measure it out- just filled until I thought it was a good amount to hold in your hand.

Did I mention that I often "wing" it?  I'm bad about taking some shortcuts.

You could stitch the opening up by hand but I was too lazy to go search for my needle so, I stitched very closely around the edge of the hearts.

NOW A NOTE BEFORE YOU HEAT THESE:

Please test for 15 seconds carefully.  Microwaves vary and you don't want to burn anyone or anything!  Heating time can also vary if you are using a different filler. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Mimi