Sore muscles, ear aches, and things like menstrual cramps happen. Electric heating pads are great but then you have to worry about being close to a plug in. DIY rice hot pack are great for having a heating pad where and when you want it in your home.
These DIY rice hot packs and easy to make and a great item for house warming or Christmas gifts!
Most people can sew these hot packs in less than an hour, even if your not a professional sewer.
For the heating packs in this tutorial, I chose a square and rectangle.
The process for both hot packs are the same, you’ll just be choosing which shape and size you’d like to make!
Supplies for making Rice Hot Packs
- Fabric of your choice
- Thread and needle
- Sewing Machine (you honestly could sew these by hand if you need/wanted too!)
- Scissors (rotary cutter)
- A way to measure and mark
- Pins (if you’d like)
- Rice (I used jasmine, DO NOT USE INSTANT)
- Iron and ironing board (incase of wrinkled fabric)
Making your Rice Hot Pack
Choose the size you’d like to make.
For the square shape I cut out 6″x6″, making the final hot pack 5″x5″ after sewing.
The rectangle shape I cut out 9″x5″, making the final hot pack 8″x4″.
Any size you choose should work just fine. Make sure to iron your fabric if needed.
You need to cut out 2 pieces that are the same size.
Sew your pieces together.
When you sew your pieces together, you need to put the right sides of the fabric together. So the sometimes ugly backsides are facing you.
You can choose to either just lay your pieces together, or you can pin them together to help keep them place better.
You’ll sew around the edge of the fabric using a regular straight stitch, stopping and turning at your corners, and leaving an opening for turning the fabric right side out so you can add rice.
Once you’ve sewn your pieces together, flip your fabric right side out and prepare to fill it with rice.
**Tip** – Use a funnel if you have one, or place rice in a cup with a pour spout for easier fill. I also put my rice packs in a bowl to catch any rice that fell out.
Fill your hot packs to your desired feeling. I found filling them 3/4 full, a little more or less, felt the best.
Once you have your hot pack filled to your liking, you’ll need a thread and needle to close the hole.
I used to the ladder (or invisible) stitch. If you don’t know the stitch, here’s a great video tutorial.
And that’s it! Your diy rice hot pack is all ready to use!
Uses for Rice Hot Packs
Tummy aches and cramps– the rectangle hot pack is the perfect shape for adults and kids alike.
Back and neck pain– can help alleviate tight and sore muscles in your neck and back
Ear Ache– the square is the perfect shape for resting a hot pack on your ear to alleviate any ear aches
Cold weather warmers– they’re good for more than just aches and pains! Warm a rice hot pack up to use to keep warm out there in the cold weather.
Bring to bed– Use a rice hot pack as something warm to cuddle into bed with on cold nights.
Thank you for joining in the YouTubecollab, because I think this might be fun to make for my grand kiddos, who live in cold climates. Two questions for you though: How long do you heat them in the microwave, and How long will they stay warm?
Hi Linda! Heat the rice hot packs in 30 second intervals until desired warmth has been reached. The hot packs should stay warm up to 30 minutes depending on how warm they have been heated too. Thank you for those great questions! I’ll be sure to add this information to the post for future readers.