Up-Cycle: To turn something with no use into something with a use.
Day 2 of our 7 days sustainable challenge is Up-cycling, so I transformed my Dads 2 old flannelette t-shirts that didn’t fit him anymore, into over 20 fantastic hand sized heat bags great for walking to the bus stop in the morning and the cold winter season.
These heat bags are super easy to make and work really well. If you want to try easy up-up-cycling, this is for you. These are made out of old flannelette t-shirts that have no use anymore and are filled with rice, they are great for keeping your hands toasty and warm and can even be used for juggling and games. They are really light and only need to be heated up for 30 seconds. If you do not have any flannels then it is easily fixed, you can use any material.
MATERIALS:
1. 1 or more Flannelette pants or t-shirts.
2. Sowing machine or a needle and thread.
3. A packet of rice.
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. The good side (purple) is faced on the inside, with the bad side (black) on the outside. Cut the material into 5-inch squares (15cm by 15cm) Make sure they all have a pair and the good side that you want to be seen, has to be on the inside.
2. Sew the pair together by sewing around 3 sides leaving 1 side to put the rice in. Don’t forget to back stich at the start and end of when you sew.
3. Flip it inside out through the hole.
4. Pour ¾ of rice the heat bag.
5. Go back to the sewing machine and back stitch across the 4th side you didn’t sew before to seal in the rice. This part is a little tricky be careful not to spill the rice everywhere.
6. YOUR DONE!!! Now enjoy your heat bags, put them into the microwave for 30 seconds to make them nice and warm!
You can make bigger heat bags if you wanted to, or any size you want, another thing you can do is add lavender or essential oils in the heat bag to make it smell nice.
The extra material like the seams can be up-cycled too. I used the strips of seems to use them as ribbons whether it’s for a gift or your hair you can also use them as a headband or a hair tie as they have a really pretty pattern and have a nice rustic look to them.
Here is the website I used to make these marvelous heat bags.
- Ella