How to Make a Rice Bag Heating Pad

DIY rice bag heating pad tutorial.

The other day my son asked me how to make a rice bag heating pad.  I was so excited he asked!  It was a fun sewing project to do together.  A rice bag heating pad is so quick and easy to whip up, I knew this would be the perfect project for a beginner sewer.

We love to use these rice bags in the winter to warm up the beds or as a heating pad for body aches and pains.  All you have to do is heat the bag in the microwave for a few minutes and you have a heating pad!

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Easy Rice Bag Heating Pad Tutorial

Here is how to make a rice bag heating pad.  Don’t worry, it’s easy!

1.  Gather Your Supplies

Before starting to sew your rice bag, gather up all of your supplies.

You will need:

• 1/4 yard fleece fabric (For the outer shell.  You can use cotton, but we like the bag to be soft and cozy.)
• 1/4 yard plain cotton fabric (this will be your inner shell)
• Uncooked Rice (we eye balled the amount we used, but it was probably around 4 cups)
• Sewing Machine
• Rotary Cutter
• Cutting Mat
• Ruler

2.  Cut Your Fabric

Now that you have found all of your supplies, it’s time to start making the rice bag heating pad.

With your rotary cutter cut two pieces of fleece fabric and two pieces of cotton fabric to a size of  6 inches by 12 inches.  You will have 4 cut pieces of fabric in all.

3.  Sew Cotton Fabric

The cotton fabric will be the lining that goes inside of your bag.  

Lay the two cut pieces of cotton fabric on top of each other, so all sides match up.  You won’t see this fabric once the bag is finished, so it doesn’t matter if right sides are together or not.

Pin the two pieces together to help it not to shift while sewing.

Sew together, leaving one of the smaller sides open for the rice.  We sewed around the bag twice to make sure there were no holes.  You don’t want any rice to fall out!

4.  Sew Fleece Fabric

Next, you will need to sew your fleece fabric.

To do this, just follow the same steps you followed in step 3.

Pin your two cut pieces of fleece together, but this time make sure the right sides (pretty side) of the fabric are touching.

Now, sew three sides of the fleece fabric together.  Leave one of the smaller edges open.

5.  Putting it Together

Now, it’s time to put your bag together.

Turn your fleece fabric bag right-side out, so that the seam is on the inside of the bag.

Next, insert your cotton bag inside the fleece bag.

Open up your un-sewed side of the cotton bag and fill it with rice.  We just kept dumping until the bag was about 3/4 full.  You can eye ball this part until you think the bag is mostly full.

Take your rice bag to your sewing machine and sew the unfinished side of the cotton bag.  This does not need to look good, no one will ever see it, but do make sure it is sewed well by stitching over it a few times.

Once the cotton bag is all sewed up, it’s time to finish up the fleece bag.

Push the unfinished edges of your fleece bag into the bag to form a nice fold on top.  Pin the folds down to keep them in place.

Sew over the folds to give the bag a nice closure.  Make sure to back stitch thoroughly so the bag doesn’t come apart.

Your bag is now finished!

See how easy that was?!?!

My son was so excited and proud of himself.  We have already used this bag multiple times.

These rice bag heating pads make the best gifts for teachers, neighbors and friends.

How to Heat Your Rice Bag

It’s so easy to heat up your rice bag!  Just put it in the microwave for 2 minutes.  That’s it!  Enjoy your nice, soft heating pad to ease those sore muscles or to help warm up your bed.

Let me know if you have any questions about how to make a rice bag heating pad.  I hope you love them as much as we do.

Rice Bag Heating Pad Easy Instructions

Print Recipe

Rice Bag Heating Pad Tutorial

Easy DIY Heating Pad

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Total Time30 minutes mins

Servings: 1 rice bag

Equipment

• 1/4 yard fleece fabric
• 1/4 yard plain cotton fabric
• Uncooked Rice
• Sewing Machine
• Rotary Cutter
• Cutting Mat
• Ruler

Ingredients

• 1/4 yard fleece fabric
• 1/4 yard plain cotton fabric
• Uncooked Rice
• Sewing Machine
• Rotary Cutter
• Cutting Mat
• Ruler

Instructions

• With your rotary cutter cut two pieces of fleece and two pieces of cotton fabric to a size of  6 inches by 12 inches. 
• Lay the two cut pieces of cotton fabric one on top of the other, so all sides match up.
• Pin the two pieces together to help it not to shift while sewing.
• Sew together, leaving one of the smaller sides open.
• Lay the two pieces of fleece fabric one on top of the other with the right sides of the fabric touching in the middle.
• Pin fleece together to help it not shift while sewing.
• Sew fleece fabric leaving one of the smaller sides open.
• Turn the fleece fabric bag right-side out.
• Insert the cotton bag inside the fleece bag.
• Open up your unsewed side of the cotton bag and fill it with rice.
• Sew the cotton bag opening shut.
• Fold the opened side of the fleece bag in to make a nice seam. Sew it shut.

Notes

To use rice bag heat it in microwave for 2 minutes.

This can be used and used again.

Enjoy!

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I hope this helped you understand how to make a rice bag heating pad.