How to Make Herbal Hot Packs for Therapy

Spice up your handmade hot pack with dried herbs.

There's nothing quite like kicking back with a heat pack to sooth tired muscles after a hard day's work or a tough workout. Adding your favorite dried herbs to your handmade heat pack doubles the benefits with a dose of aromatherapy. Herbal heat packs make a simple starter project for the beginning sewer or a quick way to use up spare fabric from other projects. You can create herbal heat packs for yourself and your friends and family with your fabric leftovers and a few household items.

Things You'll Need

• Cotton or fleece fabric
• Scissors
• Fabric marker or pins
• Sewing machine
• Dry rice or wheat
• 1 to 2 tbsp. dried herbs
• Needle
• Thread

Instructions

1. Add 1 inch to the length to the desired measurement of your hot pack. Double the width measurement and add 1 inch. Cut your fabric to the correct size. Cotton fabric will be easier to work with for beginning sewers, but fleece has a softer texture.

2. Fold your fabric in half lengthwise with the right sides facing each other. Mark a 1/2-inch seam along the edges with a fabric marker or with pins and stitch along the seam guide leaving a 3-inch gap at the end. Turn the fabric right-side out.

3. Add 1 to 3 tbsp. of your favorite dried herb to dried rice or wheat. Pour the mixture into your fabric hot pack until it is about 3/4 full. Do not overfill or the pack will be stiff and difficult to drape around your neck.

4. Thread a needle and wrap the tail around the needle three times. Hold the loops between your thumb and forefinger while pulling the needle up and through. Pull tight to form a knot at the end of the thread. Sew the gap in the pouch closed.

5. Heat your herbal pack for two to three minutes in the microwave before applying, or store it in the freezer for use as a cold pack.

Tips & Warnings

• Empty an herbal tea bag into your rice or wheat if you don't have dried herbs on hand.

• Print out instructions for your herbal hot packs and give them to friends and family.

References

• Craft Bits: Wheat Heat Pack
• All Free Crafts: Rice Hot Pack