DIY Rice Pocket Handwarmers!

My blog is undergoing an identity crisis again and today it is going to be a DIY/craft blog ! I wanted to show you an easy little sewing project I did over Christmas break, when I was able to engage in some quality bonding time with my sewing machine.

I wanted to do some crafting, while simultaneously using up some fabric scraps that have been sitting around in a scraps box since the beginning of time. I don't even remember what some of these fabrics were originally used for, and I didn't foresee them being used in anything specific in the future, so I went to work.

After some Pinterest browsing, I decided to make some handwarmers ! This was my first craft of choice for a couple reasons. 

- First off, it's really cold in northern California (compared to southern California... I can't even imagine how frigid it must be anywhere outside the Golden State). 

- Second, Lucas will soon be flying all over the country for medical school interviews, many of which are in cold locales like Pennsylvania, and I thought his skinny hands could use some pocket company. 

- Third, they are ridiculously easy to make... seriously. Too easy. 

I took some photos of my crafting process in case any of you wanted a step-by-step instructable :)

Step 1

Choose your fabric. Because these pocket friends will be zapped in a microwave, your selection has to be limited to pure cotton fabrics. Synthetics like polyurethane or acrylic will melt or worse, catch fire in a microwave, so stay away from fleece and opt for something like this flannel. 

Oh, your thread should be cotton as well, which was a bit of crafty oversight for me as these are made of polyester thread. I've just made sure to only microwave them in 15-second increments.

Step 2

Cut four identical squares of your fabric of choice. Put the patterned sides of the fabric together, facing each other, and stitch all around. Make sure you leave a small, finger-wide gap.

Step 3

Flip them inside-out via the gap, so you get this nice, rounded-edge pouch.

Step 4

Raid your pantry for some rice and grab about a cup and a half of it. I couldn't find a funnel so I just took a sheet of scratch paper and rolled it into a narrow cone. Ghetto-fabulous !

Step 5

Funnel your rice into the pouch, but only so it fills up to halfway. You need to be able to sew around the entire pocket, which is significantly harder if the pouch is stuffed entirely full.

Step 6

Stitch around the entire border of the pouch, making sure to close the gap in the fabric

(as well as to not run your needle over stray grains of rice, as this is not good for your machine)

finished !

Yay ! Lucas' are made out of plaid flannel from a pair of pajama pants I sewed in middle school, and mine are made of scrap flannel from a project I can no longer recall. I also made a larger version of the blue flannel ones for my brother (the size of the fabric squares can vary based on the size of the recipient's hands.)

To activate their cozy hand-warming magic just put them in the microwave for 15-30 seconds at a time until they're hot, take them out , and shake the rice up a little. They do a great job of heating up jacket pockets, and stay toasty for a good duration of time :)