Homemade Handwarmers

 Handwarmers are a great gift for anyone who lives in a colder climate. These are perfect for heating up as you walk out the door and placing in your coat pockets. They would be great for children, teachers, coworkers, neighbors, even the mail delivery man.

I do not get along with sewing machines. But this easy to make gift can be sewn by hand or by machine.
The key to making successful handwarmers, is to use cotton fabric. Do not use felt, silk, or any other type of fabric, as they may melt or burn in the microwave.

Jan's tip: To save time: look for pre-cut packages of quilt squares to use for the handwarmers. (Walmart and other fabric stores have cute combinations that coordinate with each other already cut. ) The handwarmers above were from a package of quilt squares from the  Walmart fabric dep't.  and I chose to use a different fabric on the front than the back, as shown above.


Instructions:

1) Cut 4 inch squares from desired cotton material
2) Place them right sides together, wrong sides out.
3) Using needle and thread sew squares together using a blanket stitch, running stitch or whatever stitch you                  choose, but leave a 1 1/2 inch opening to fill the warmers. ( I used an overlapping running stitch , starting my next stitch a little bit back over the previous stitch to ensure no gaps occurred anywhere.)
4) Using the 1 1/2 inch opening, reverse the fabric so it is now right sides out. Use a pencil  though the opening to help make sure the corners are completely pushed out.
5) using a funnel, fill the warmers with rice, but not all the way to the top, do not over fill.
6) Using needle and thread stitch the 1 1/2 inch opening closed using as discreet a stitch as possible (ladder stitch would work) .
7) Tie two handwarmers together with a ribbon and attach a tag that reads:  "Heat in microwave for 1-2 minutes. Place a cup of water in microwave beside the handwarmer while heating for best results." ( This helps the long term life of the rice from drying out and scorching over time from repeated use.)