Gathered Lavender & Grain Heating Bag Tutorial

Happy Saturday! My mom snuck into town this past week to keep me company while Bill is traveling, which is why there were so few posts this week :) There is always too much fun to be had when Mimi is here! We all had a wonderful visit and today she headed back home so I'm now jumping back into our normal routine. I realized this morning I never shared one of the Christmas gifts I made this past holiday season. These heating bags are super simple to sew and turned out beautifully! I ended up making 14 in all! Whew! Below the pictures I'll give you the easy how-to details.

Gathered Lavender & Grain Heating Bag Tutorial
Supplies:
6 or so cups of rice or wheat
2 TB dried lavender (I purchase mine at our local health food store, but you can often times find it at big chain craft stores too, it will have a more "perfumy" sent though)
29 inch by 2 inch strip of flannel
29 inch by 6 inch strip of fabric
36 inch by 6 inch strip of fabric (this will be your gathered top)

1. Take your 36 inch strip of fabric and sew a gathering stitch right down the center of the fabric.
2. Pull the thread strings to start gathering the fabric till it matches the length of the bottom fabric piece (29inches)
3. Iron the gathered top to set the pleats
4. With raw edges folded in, sew the strip of flannel onto the middle of the gathered piece of fabric. This will hide your gathered stitch and lock the pleats in place
5. With right sides facing each-other, pin the edges and mark where you will leave a 2 inch opening.
6. Sew around the edges of the bag with a 1/4inch foot and then serge the raw edge. If you don't have a serger a zig-zag stitch will do the same job. You just want to insure your seams won't open up. Rice can be a pain to clean up!
7. Flip your bag right-side out through the two-inch opening and fill with the grain and lavender to your desired fullness.
8. Hand sew the 2 inch opening and your done!

*I also made these adorable stroller versions for my boys to use on chilly morning runs. Just pin two loops of ribbon inside the bag before sewing the edges so that it can attach to the stroller seat-belts!