DIY Hand Warmers

In addition to knitting quite a bit so far this winter, I've also busted out my sewing machine to do a few simple projects, the first of which was actually a Pinterest DIY. It was for little reusable hand warmers that you make with some rice and fabric scraps. I'd repinned it a while ago and then realized they would make a great, quick Christmas present. I ended up making a pair for my Secret Santa and a pair for my friend Lauria (she is a tour guide at a historical site and is outside in period colonial garb very frequently). The tutorial I used is this one. I changed very little from what she did. This is her picture of the hand warmers (I forgot to take pictures of the ones I made before I wrapped them).

© 2015 rae ann kelly of raeannkelly.com

I thought they were just adorable, and I happend to have two pairs of square fabric scraps from when I made my knitting project bag. So one set ended up the green pattern and one set ended up the grey pattern, which was perfect since my Secret Santa likes green and the grey seemed great for Lauria. Because I was using scraps that were basically already cut for me, I just made sure they were proper squares and called it a day. As a result, instead of the 2 3/4 inches square she suggests, I used  3 1/2 inch squares. I thought they still seemed like a nice size for hands and coat pockets. In any case, they are the easiest things in the world to make and because you can use fabric scraps and there isn't much rice in them, they are very inexpensive as well.

Instructions:

1) Cut out two 3 1/2 inch squares of the fabric of your choice for each hand warmer. (You can make your hand warmers larger or smaller, so long as they're squares.)

2) Put the two squares wrong sides together and sew around with a 1/4 inch seam allowance, leaving an opening about 1 1/2 inches wide. Backstitch both at the beginning and the end.

3) Fill about 3/4 of the way with rice. For squares that were 3 1/2 inches, I used 30g of rice. (I measured so that I could make sure they were all evenly filled.)

4) Pin the opening and sew shut.

5) Use pinking sheers to trim the edges.

If you don't have pinking sheers (I had to borrow a friend's), instead of sewing wrong sides together, you can sew them right sides together in step 2. Then, before step 3 when you fill it with rice, turn the bag right side out. After you fill it, you'd simply pin the opening and whip stitch it closed.

To use the hand warmers, all you have to do is pop them in the microwave for about 20 seconds.

And that's it! Super simple and simply adorable. I think it took me longer to get my machine out than it did to actually make them.