Embroidered Aromatherapy Heat Bag Tutorial

I love being home…….I’d definitely say that I’m a homebody type of person. I just love our house because it’s so warm and cozy and actually it’s not a house, it’s a home. Sometimes when you’ve had a tough day, you just need something warm and comforting to make you feel better. Today I’m participating in Susan from Living with Punks ‘Home Sewn’ series sharing an Embroidered Aromatherapy Heat Bag. This was a project I worked on for Baby Lock Sewing and Embroidery Machines a year or so ago and I’m excited to bring it back here to The Cottage Mama.

You can use any type of scent you would like with this project. I chose Lavender because of its’ stress reducing properties, but if you’re looking for something to get you energized, you can think orange or ginger. Or perhaps you’re looking to be cozy……..then turn to the warm scent of cinnamon. This pattern has a bag insert as well as a cover for easy washing. Just pop the inner rice bag in the microwave for a few minutes and watch your stress just wash away. Also, you do NOT need embroidery capabilities on your sewing machine for this project. You can completely skip the embroidery or do a machine applique, if you would prefer.

SUPPLIES:
• Sewing Machine
• 6 Fat Quarters
• 1 spool embroidery thread
• 1 spool all-purpose thread, coordinating color
• 48 oz. rice
• 4 tablespoons of dried lavender (or other scent of choice)
• 1 piece tear away stabilizer
• Scissors
• Hand sewing needle
• Iron

INSTRUCTIONS:

Step 1: Apply tear away stabilizer to the back of fabric that will be used as the front exterior of the bag. Make sure to cut your fabric large enough to accommodate the cutting dimensions found below and large enough to fit in the hoop. I always like to have more fabric than too little, so that’s why I cut out the pattern piece after embroidering.

Step 2: Hoop the fabric. Select embroidery design. I chose a heart shape from the ‘Exclusive’ collection of built-in embroidery designs on my Baby Lock Unity (which is my sewing machine). You could choose any design you would like. A monogram would be lovely as well. I used Madeira Rayon thread in color 1310. Embroider the design.

Step 3: Take the fabric out of the hoop. Remove the tear away stabilizer and press the embroidery design.

Step 4: Cut your pieces for the bag. This bag has an exterior and a lining and then a separate rice bag insert that goes inside the cover. You will need six pieces total. You can alter the size if you would like the bag a little larger or smaller.
-Cut 2 pieces 7.25” x 13.25” (exterior of bag)
-Cut 2 pieces 7.25” x 13.25” (lining of bag)
-Cut 2 pieces 7.25” x 12.75” (rice bag insert)

Step 5: For the bag insert, place the insert pieces with their right sides together. Sew all the way around using a 1/2” seam allowance, leaving one short end open. Clip the corners, turn right side out and press. Press the open edge under 1/2” towards the wrong side of the fabric.

Step 6: Mix the rice and the lavender. Pour the mixture into the bag insert until the bag is almost full. Hand sew the opening closed.

Step 7: Construct the bag. Place the exterior pieces with their right sides together and sew all the way around using a 1/2” seam allowance, leaving one of the short sides open. Clip the corners, turn right side out and press. Do the same thing for the lining pieces, but don’t turn right side out. Press the raw edges of the open end under 1/2” towards the wrong side of the fabric . Do this for both the lining and exterior. Place the lining down inside the exterior with their wrong sides together and matching up the top open end.

Step 8: Topstitch around the open end of the bag to sew the lining and the exterior bag together.

Place the rice bag insert in the microwave for 1 – 3 minutes and then place the insert inside the cover. That way you can easily launder the cover whenever you need to and the insert will stay nice and clean.

Embroidery adds such a beautiful touch to a project, so if your machine has embroidery capabilities, I highly recommend using them……..your friends and family will be very impressed! You can check out more ‘Home Sewn’ projects over at Living with Punks.

Happy Home Sewing!