Rice Hot Pack (or Cold Pack) and Rice Buddy 'Faux Hot Water Bottle'
By Jane Lake
We now have directions for two versions of the popular rice pack free sewing patterns on this page. The original Rice Buddy Hot Pack and the new Faux Hot Water Bottle Rice Pack. If you wish to add the power of aromatherapy to your hot packs, you can add small amounts of herbs or a few drops of your favourite herbal essential oil to the rice before filling the packs. Lavender smells wonderful and has been used for centuries for its calming effect.
Handy Tip: Both rice hot pack variations can be used as hot packs by heating in the microwave, but they also make useful cold packs to ease sprains and strains when stored in the freezer.
Directions for the Original Rice Hot Pack: For those who would like to stick with the traditional rice pack project, which produces a 3' x 4.5" tube, divided into rice filled segments, here are the full directions:
Supplies: scrap of cotton fabric, 37"x 10"; thread; chalk; sewing machine; one cup measure; measuring tape; scissors; 6 cups of white rice (not instant).
Skills:
This is an easy to make beginner's sewing project. Ability to measure, cut, and sew rectangles with half inch seams.
What You Do: Fold fabric in half lengthwise, right sides together, and sew along the bottom and length using half inch seams. Turn tube right side out. Measure and mark with chalk, from bottom seam, every 6" along the length, ending a half inch from end. Pour one cup of rice into tube and sew across width at the first 6" mark, enclosing rice in a 6" x 4.5" rectangle. Repeat for remaining 5 cups of rice. Turn in a half inch from end, and sew very near the edge to close tube.
Include these instructions with your gift: "Rice Buddy Hot Pack/Cold Pack. Microwave for 3-5 minutes, until hot, and use as you would a hot water bottle. Great for easing aches and pains. For cold pack, store in the freezer."
Directions for the Faux Hot Water Bottle Rice Pack:
Supplies: cotton, fleece or other suitable fabric; printed template or a hot water bottle to use as a template; scotch tape, sewing thread; sewing machine; one cup measure; measuring tape; scissors; approximately 3 cups of white rice (not instant); funnel.
Cost: under $2.00.
Skills: Beginner's sewing project. Ability to trace, measure, cut, and sew with quarter inch seams.
What You Do: Print the two halves of the hot water bottle template. Join the two halves with scotch tape. Alternatively, trace around a hot water bottle, and add 1/4 inch seam allowance all around to make your own template.
Fold fabric, right sides together, and pin the template along the fold line where indicated. Cut out two pattern pieces like this.
Pin the two fabric pieces, right sides together.
Starting at one side of the neck, sew all round to the other side of the neck, using 1/4" seams. Leave the top open. Turn right side out.
Top stitch a straight line down the center of the pattern, from the nub on the bottom to the base of the neck.
Use the funnel to put approximately 1/3 - 1/2 cups of rice in each side of the line just sewn. Now top stitch in a straight line across the pattern, trapping the rice in two segments, approximately 1/3 of the way from the bottom of the pattern.
Repeat this step two more times, ending with a short sewing line across the neck of the fabric bottle pattern. See photo for details.
Now turn in a quarter inch hem on the neck, and sew close to the edge to close.
Include these instructions with your gift: "Rice Buddy Hot Pack/Cold Pack. Microwave for 1-3 minutes, until hot, and use as you would a hot water bottle. Great for easing aches and pains. For cold pack, store in the freezer."
Gift Basket Suggestion: These are wonderful wrapped around your neck when you have the flu. If you know a friend who is feeling ill, why not put a gift basket together? A clementine orange crate is perfectly sized for this gift. Arrange either rice pack in the crate, or a similar sized basket, and add layered chicken noodle soup-in-a-jar, soda crackers, Vicks vapor rub, cough drops, a good book, and uplifting music (nice choice for a cd:
Chicken Soup for the Soul: Songs Of Joy And Jubilation To Open the Heart and Rekindle The Spirit.) Wrap your gift basket in cellophane and tie with curling ribbon.
I make "neck chillers". They tie around your neck or where ever so you don't have to hold it. I use cotton fabric 36' x 6' sew it right sides together leaving a 6' opening in the middle, close the ends at an angle when sewing. Turn it right side out, sew 2 cross stitches 12' apart to make a pocket, add velcro or a snap to close the opening then I make 3' x 10' rice packets to insert. Don't put too much rice in or it doesn't lay around the neck nice. I store the extra rice packs in the freezer in a plastic bag so I can keep switching them out. My granddaughter likes the cold packs better than the hot ones. I make hers in cute kids patterns.
Jayme – Kansas
Apr 07, 2010 - 02:11
I added handles: Cut tube 3" x 20". Fold lengthwise, right-sides-together. Sew and turn right-side-out. Before closing ends on long
rice-pack, insert both unfinished ends of handle, then close rice-pack end over the handle to create a loop. Repeat at other end of rice pack. Then the user can wrap the rice-pack around behind them and hold it with the handles.
Reply to Jayme
angelica
Jul 26, 2010 - 07:01
paano
Tina Dalasinski – Grand Rapids,Mi.
Mar 09, 2010 - 13:37
I saw Lavender ones as well.
Lani – Louisiana
Feb 08, 2010 - 09:37
Can you use these packs over and over? At what point would you throw out the rice and add new rice?
Reply to Lani
Megan – Alaska
Apr 15, 2010 - 12:28
I live in Alaska and my family uses these all the time. We even made small ones for the kids to heat up and keep in their pockets while waiting for the bus (like Hot Hands). Anyway, we've had our rice packs for about 12 years now, never had to replace them. We made some of ours with rice, others with hard corn kernels. The kernels have lasted just as long, and they smell kind of yummy when you heat them up too. one of our favorite things to do is to use polar fleece to make these - they take a while longer to heat up, but they're soft!
Reply to Lani
Norma – Branson, MO.
Aug 06, 2010 - 00:22
Lani - I have a rice bag that I have been using over & over for the past 5 or 6 years. I have a slip on cover that I keep on it that can be easily removed to wash. I just recently made 80 rice bags (7" x 9") for gifts at work. I also have a large rice bag (10" x 15" - divided into 4 tubes) that we use in the winter as a foot warmer at night.
Shaz – Canada
Jan 12, 2010 - 16:49
Try making these in fun shapes like a frog or a lizard. They were a big hit at Christmas. Also, covers are great for washing!
Rita – central california
Dec 22, 2009 - 02:08
I heard that useing chicken corn feed holds the heat better than rice havent tried it yet but will soon chicken corn feed you can buy 50 lbs for around $10.00 so I've been told wow you can make alot of hot pack with 50 lbs
Reply to Rita
joanne – hamilton on
Mar 11, 2010 - 21:45
i use stove corn, which is feed corn but triple cleaned not dusty at all. you can get this corn at TSC stores for $10 per 45 lb bag try it !!!
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