Hot/ Cold Packs

Needed Materials:
• One 12” cut of fabric (44” width)
• Two 4” x 10” strips of fabric
• Two pounds UNCOOKED rice
• Thread to match
• Safety pin & straight pin
Directions:
1. Start with 4” x 10” strips. Fold strip in half
width wise (skinny fold) with fabric facing
inward. Run a stitch midway between fold
and edges, stitching the length of strip.
2. Repeat with second strip.
3. Use safety pin to turn handles right side
out: start with the point of the pin on the outside of the handle. Push
the point THROUGH so that point is now in the center of the handle.
Close pin and rotate so that head of the pin is in the center of the
handle. Push through the center of the handle to the opposite opening.
Once the head of the safety pin is through opposite opening, work
fabric right side out by pulling end with attached safety pin and
pushing opposite end.

You should end up with two (I made two hot/cold packs, so I finished
with four) handles. Press with an iron so handles are flat.
4. Take 12” cut of fabric and, if not
already, fold in half face out so it
measures 12” x 22”. Press with iron.
Fold in half width wise (skinny fold). At
this point, it will not matter which side
face of fabric is on (face of fabric should
be on both inside and outside of fold).
Run stitch 1/4 in from length with
edges. Flip right side out.
5. Once bag is right side out, use straight
pins to position handle to bag. Align raw
edges of handles with raw edges of
bag. Handle should be lying against bag
(if not, your handle will be sewn inside
the bag). Stitch edges of the handle to
the bag now for extra reinforcement.
Make sure you only stitch through one
side of the bag’s opening (if you stitch
through both sides at once, this sews
your bag shut with an unfinished edge).
Run the stitch close, 1/8th in.
6. Flip bag inside out, with handles INSIDE of the bag. Stitch ONE end of
bag (with raw edges) closed by running stitch 1/2 in from edge. Flip
bag right side out again.
7. Fold edge of open end of bag INWARD 1/2 in. Press fold (this will
create a clean edge in the end).
8. With your bag right side out, mark your bag into quarters with straight
pins. This will show you where to make stitches once you begin filling
the bag with rice.
9. Divide rice into quarters, approximately 1/2 lb for each section.
10. Fill bag a quarter of the way with rice. Close section off with a stitch at
place indicated by straight pin. Repeat by filling bag with another
quarter of rice and stitching section off. Continue repeating until bag is
full. Once last of rice is added, seal off bag by running a stitch on top of
fold edge (from step 7) for a clean edge. Run final stitch close, 1/8th in.
Viola!

HOT/COLD PACK!
 SECRET STEP BELOW FOR CLOSING OFF SECTIONS WITH RICE
After running stitch after stitch (love that seam ripper) across my bag to get
the PERFECTLY straight line despite rice, I discovered a handy tip. When you
are ready to close a section off, push all the rice to the bottom of the section
as best you can. The tighter you push, the easier this will be. Next, fold and
pinch the section while it is still upright. By doing this, it makes it difficult for
those pesky little grains to fall in line of your needle. Make sure you hold the
fold/pinch tight while positioning the bag under your needle. Once you have
perfect placement, SEW! Hurry, quick! The longer you take to make that
stitch, the greater chance there is for run-away grains. Hope this helps!

PUSH PINCH SEW