Handmade Flannel Comfort

My friend Barbara got me all excited about these microwaveable cozy bags this Christmas. She suggested we go in on a bag of feed corn together. I demured. Said I was ssure my mom would like one and that I'd make one for us, but I didn't think I needed feed corn in bulk. I made my two. Then I emailed about more corn. Much more corn. My kids were all wanting the one I made. I wanted the one I made. Mike ended up with the one I made. We need many, many more.

Now that the gifts have been given, I can share them with you.

This is an excellent step-by-step tutorial. And here's a little play-by-play of our making.

Two squares of lovely Sandi Henderson Farmer's Market Flannel, right sides together.

Stitch all the way around, leaving an opening to use to turn it right side out. I usually double pin at either side of that opening so I don't get distracted and forget to stop and then stitch the whole thing closed.

Trim the corners so there's no bulk.

This was a great tip: slip a paper towel holder inside to help iron the seams flat.

Turn the square right sides out and use chopsticks to gently push those corners square.

Then, use that paper towel holder again to pour the corn feed corn into the square. I sprinkled my corn liberally with eucalyptus essential oil before pouring it into the square. Then I just stitched that hole closed. Ta dah!

Then, I moved on to make some narrower, long bags for necks and shoulder.

I have a thing for ric-rac. Love, love, love it! So when I saw these, I was sure they were for me. Only I wanted prettier. And pinker. But of course:-). Again, click on the tutorial for the full details. Everything you need to know is right there.

Both the neck warmers and the cozy can be used in the microwave to heat or in the freezer for an ice pack. We need ice packs all the time around here, so I'm making many--some to store in the freezer awaiting the next need for a cold pack and some for warming. 

It gets a little tricky to sew those channels with the rice in the bag. I found it helpful to push the rice all the way down into the bag and then pin right above it, all the way across, to try and trap the rice. It was also helpful to use striped flannel, so I didn't have to mark my stitching lines. See the sole green pin on that blue line? That's where I'm going to sew. The line of pins below is the rice-trapping line. It's a bit tedious, but so worth it.