Rachel Robin's Nest

This is probably an over-share, but my boyfriend has an infected gland in his armpit.  Yeah.  Gross.  At first it was scary cause he had a lump and we didn’t know what it was, but now it’s just funny.  And gross.

He’s supposed to be doing hot compresses three times a day, but because it’s a huge pain to put rice in a plastic baggie and heat it hot enough to be effective but not so hot that it melts the plastic, he hasn’t been keeping up with it.  Therefore, I decided to be an awesome, caring, crafty girlfriend, and make him one myself.

This project is fast, easy, and very inexpensive.  The resulting pack can be heated in the microwave to soothe sore muscles or chilled in the freezer to ice bumps and bruises.  All you need is some soft fabric, a sewing machine, and some rice!

DIY Hot/Cold Pack

Materials:

• Flannel or fleece fabric
• Plain rice (not quick cooking)
• Optional scents–essential oils, tea bags etc
• Basic sewing supplies–scissors, sewing machine, pins etc

Directions:

1.  Cut two squares of fabric to whatever size you’d like–I made mine fairly small at 6″ x 6″

2.  Pin the two squares together right sides facing

3.  Sew all the way around the edges with a 1/4″ seam allowance, leaving about a 2″-3″ gap for turning

4.  Clip the corners

5.  Turn right side out, pushing out corners with your fingers or a chopstick

6.  Using a funnel, fill the sack with rice until it is a pleasing fullness

7.  If you’d like a scented pack, add a few drops of your favorite essential oil, or do what I did and cut open a bag of your favorite tea and dump it inside!

8.  Pin the turning opening closed and stitch shut.  Make sure you completely close off the opening so you don’t have rice and/or tea spilling all over the place!

And there you have it!  Simple, fast, cheap and awesome.  Make a few to have around the house when injuries strike.  If you’re worried about it getting dirty, try making a washable pillowcase to go around the outside, using my Envelope Pillow Cover Tutorial.