Rice Pad Sewing Tutorial - Part 2

Welcome to part two of the Rice Pad sewing tutorial.

Above, you will see a 13" by 13" piece of fabric chosen for the outside cover of the inside rice pad made in the last tutorial. As seen in the picture, you will need to fold down the edge on one side of the fabric (fold from right side to wrong side). Although not pictured, you will need to pin this side. Proceed to the other three sides as well and fold and pin. I folded about a half inch. It does help to fold two parallel sides and then do the two opposite parallel sides. You will need to stitch all four sides at this point.

Here is the 13" by 13" piece of outer fabric stitched on all four sides so that there are no raw edges.

Now, lay your completed inner pad in the middle of the piece of outer fabric that you just finished stitching the raw edges on.

Fold the bottom half up and the top piece down as seen here.

Although not pictured, pin the right side of the outer fabric together at this point. Once you have it pinned in place, carefully slide the inner pad out of the outer cover as in the picture above.

Now, pin the left side of the fabric together just as you pinned the right side. This is what you should have when you are done. If you look very carefully, you will see the two pins on each side here.

Off to the sewing machine you go. Follow the stitching that shows through on the right sides of the fabric, stitch straight across both edges of the cover. If you follow the previous stitching, it will look neater. Don't worry if you get off line, it doesn't affect the pad's structure. It only effects it's looks.

Next, slide the inner pad inside the cover. Straighten the outer cover that you just created.

Voila, you are finished. Aren't you proud of yourself?

Here is the finished pad in all it's glory. To use the pad, simply pop it into your microwave. All microwave settings are different but to begin with, I would not heat the pad over 1 minute on high. In my microwave, 1 minute is for sinus pressure relief (not too hot but just right). For major muscle trouble, we microwave no more than 1 minute and 30 seconds. You will need to play around with the times until you find a time and temperature that suits you. The outer cover of the pad can be easily removed and washed as needed.

The rice pad will emit a warm, moist heat that soothes and relieves. It not only helps your muscles, it is super easy on the pocket book. The best part is that you made it yourself!