Wednesday, August 29, 2012

~Making Therapeutic Rice Bags~

Good morning my crafty friends, 
I was on a mission yesterday to make Therapeutic Rice Bags for a friend
who is dealing with migraines and pains, as I made them I thought
I would also make a tutorial on how to make them. 

Rice bags are great for pain or aching muscles. They are 100% natural. 
You heat them from 1-3 minutes in the microwave or store one in the freezer. 

Step 1. If you are using oils, layer rice about 1" then drop 1-2 drops oil (really 1 is good enough)
then shake around, repeat until you have around 5" of rice. Set aside overnight. 
Peppermint is wonderful for freezing. 
 Step 2. Using 100% cotton fabric or all natural fiber fabric (Do not use any synthetic, it will melt in microwave) Trim out size and shape of your rice bag, I like to do rolls myself. 
Step 3. with fabric turned wrong way, stitch- leaving a 2" hole to fill with rice. 
(with the roll shape you just seal one end and leave one open)
 Step 4. Turn stitched fabric right way, fill with rice.
Do not PACK tightly or overfill, leave at least 1" empty, but preferably 2"
so you have room to close and it is flexible. 

Here I made one plain, one cinnamon *shown below*, and one using
the peppermint oil. 
 With the cinnamon you just layer and stir, the rice becomes a cinnamon
color as it coats completely. 
 Step 5. Fold ends in and stitch close, I stitch 4-5 times for a nice sturdy
seal. I also stitch the other end so they match. But I like funky stitching on them
some people prefer they look perfect and hidden, well we all know I am not perfect LOL

I added little loops on these as well for hanging on hooks. 
They make wonderful gifts, you can make little covers for them if
you are worried they will get dirty, but honestly they are so cheap, 
it's easy to just make a few more. 

Ok I will see you tomorrow! :) Happy Hump Day my friends MUAH!

Photobucket

5 comments:

Christa said...

These are great Pinky! So thoughtful of you.

Kelly Sas said...

You are such a great friend! Anyone can make these - a great beginner sewer project!

KayG19 said...

You don't really describe that jar used for measurements, about how much rice per drop (or 2) of oil? Thank you, looks amazing.

Unknown said...

The jar is a pint jar Kay

Sandy said...

Any idea what the measurements were for your fabric? My mother-in-law has asked me to make her one of these. Thank you :)