Hello community! We are making a heat pack here! In the last weeks I’ve been making some of these for friends and family, and will share my experience and all the science I collected through the project.

A seed bag, also known as warm pad, hand warmer, etc, is a bag full of seeds used as a heat source (usually via microwave), sometimes with scents used for aromatherapy. The shape, scent and seeds used respond to different preferences and uses: relaxation, physiotherapy, get warm, kid’s sleep, bed warming…

This tutorial will cover the making of a simple, square heat bag with wheat and lavender, but is intended to be a general tutorial on the subject.

(Sorry beforehand if there is any problem with my english ^^'').

PD: you can view my Etsy store to get some ideas ;)

Supplies

We will need

Sewing machine (preferably).
Cotton / linen fabric. The type is important, not only for the comfort but for the integrity of the bag. Also the heat flux will depend on it.
Seeds (next section on that issue).
Dry herbs / spices / flowers for the scent.

I will give more detail on the quantities and so on along the tutorial.

Step 1: Design and Choosing the Fabric

As we said, we are making a square bag, but you may want some innovation. For example, you may use a ‘C’ form for the neck and shoulders, or a long rectangular shape for more general purpose. Also you could make more complex designs like dolls, it will be a nice present for your nephews!

For the fabric, I always recommend have a double layer:

One with nice touch feel for the outside. I use a thin linen piece of fabric with nice colors, but you can choose your own.
Another piece for the inside. This is optional but will improve durability and comfort. I recommend reusing an old (but clean please ^^'') fabric you had at home. I am using a piece of an old bed sheet.

Be careful on choosing a very thick material, it will screen the thermal properties of the bag and it will be harder to work.

Step 2: Cut and Prepare the Fabric.

For the square, we will cut two rectangles.

The outside fabric will be a rectangle with a side relation 2 to 1, as the image shows.
The inner fabric will be bigger than the outer one.

We will put the two pieces together and sew the smaller opposite sides of the outer fabric (red lines). You can sew the other two sides if you are more comfortable but is not required for the process. Once the sides are sewn we will cut out the excess of the inner fabric.

We have our two layer piece prepared.

Step 3: Sew the Bag

Now we will put together the smaller sides, with the inner side looking outside (sic ^^''), and fix the other two open sides with two needles. We will sew these two sides, and then 'flip out' our bag.

Now it's time to fill it.

Step 4: Seeds

It’s the key part of our product. You can use the ones you have at home, the most commonly used being rice. Also linen, olive seeds, cherry seeds, chickpeas and wheat are used.

For me, the better choice is wheat. It has a nice thermal properties, and it has no smell when heated (like sometimes does rice or linen). Also it has a nice seed size for being comfortable enough.

I bought a 25Kg of wheat from a local producer, if you are going to buy your seeds, stay green and buy locally ;) .

The quantity should be a bit more than half of the capacity of the bag.

Step 5: Fragrance

For the scent you can use the herbs you like. All the aroma sources you put in the bag I’ll propose you the following options:

Lavender (for relaxation)
Sage leaves and dry lemon (for colds)
Cinnamon (helps kids sleeping)

We are using lavender for this. The ratio seed - herbs may vary but a 9 to 1 should be fine for almost every case.

Yo must use dry herbs or spices. Never use liquid essences or fresh flowers (for example) because it will ruin our seeds on the short term.

Step 6: Close the Bag

Now its time to finish and close our heat bag. Place the borders of the opening around half a centimeter inside and put some needles to fix it. Now we will sew the opening, first with a straight line and then with the smaller zig-zag stitching we had on our machine. If you are not using a sewing machine, just be sure that the bag is perfectly closed ;)

An there you have it! :D

Step 7: Uses

There are a lot of uses of that bags. Usually takes between 2 and 3 minutes to warm it up in the microwave at max power, but depends on the size. If the bag is more then that time in the microwave, it can loose his aroma.

The most common uses are:

Relaxing muscles.
Helping remove contractures. Very useful for the neck and back (make a long one to get more adaptability).
Help sleeping (Use cinnamon. Very effective with children).
Helps a lot with menstrual pain (Square design fits perfect).
Helps with digestion and intestinal diseases.
Also in the fridge! You can place it in your fridge with a plastic bag to treat muscular inflammation.
Giving a nice present :)
Decoration and fragrance.
Before sleep bed warming.
Hand warming (tiny one).

A general tip for maintenance is, if you feel that the bag is loosing his heat power, put it in the microwave as usually but with a glass of water almost filled. The humidity will recover the heat retaining power of the seeds.

Hope you enjoyed, please give feedback in the comments! :)