Rice Hand Warmers: Easy Sewing Tutorial

As it's still in midst of winter here in England, I thought I'd share a really quick and easy tutorial for making super cute hand warmers. These are perfect for popping inside your gloves for extra warmth or putting into your pockets. You only need a few things to make them and it's a perfect sewing project for using up fabric scraps that, if like me are taking over your craft area! Plus you can easily adapt this to make other things - for example, make it bigger and it works a treat for period pains or fill them with beans and they make great bean bags / juggling bags. You can even add dried lavendar and use them as scented drawer sachets. They only take around 10-15 minutes to make and are super easy so lets begin...


You Will Need:
Fabric Scraps
Rice - I used regular long grain
15 minutes!


Step One:
Create a template from craft card that measures 4" x 3" - this size is perfect for adult hands. For children, make a smaller rectangle around 3" x 2.5".


I should say that I hate using my rotary cutter so I will do anything to make my life easier and if that means making and drawing around a card template then so be it! Feel free to use your rotary cutter by all means.


Using the template (or indeed your rotary cutter), cut out 2 rectangles from your chosen fabric. Here I'm using a gorgeous show print available from Fabric Rehab

Step Two:
Place right sides together and sew around leaving a gap on one of the sides to turn it inside out.


Note - I start sewing on a long side, then continue all the way around so that the gap is in the centre of one of the long sides. I have added a green line to show which direction I sew in.

Step 3:
Turn it right side out and poke out the corners. A crochet needle or a coloured pencil works great for this.

Step 4: Fill with rice. Do not overfill, you want the hand warmers to have enough room for the rice to move around inside so that it's more comfy to hold onto.

Step 5:

Sew the gap closed.


To use: Pop them in a microwave for approximately 15 seconds. I find 15 seconds usually does the trick and my microwave is 850w. Don't leave them in there too long otherwise the rice will burn.


That's it! Now wasn't that a quick and easy sewing project. They make great gifts too. I tie a pretty ribbon around them and include a little note explaining how they work.


Enjoy :-)

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