We had a heat pack discussion in the comments a while back and I've tried to find the time to finally make one. Saturday was the day! And not a day too soon according to Wille who loved it and asked why I hadn't made one earlier when it was cold outside… I still think it's cold, inside and out so I'll get plenty of use out of it well into spring and early summer.

Here's the how-to:

Choose any fabric of your fancy. I did a mini patchwork simply because I've never tried that before. The size of the piece needed is 30×60 cm / 12"x24".

Zig-zag outer edges and fold in one of the short ends and add velcro. On one half sew the femle part of the velcro on and on the other half the male.

Fold the fabric lengthwise, right side in and stitch the short end without velco and the long side. Turn right side out.

Sew another similar piece, just 2.5 cm / 1" shorter, in a simple fabric like the white cotton I used. This is where your filling will go. First you fold it lengthwise and stitch the short ends. Turn right side out and then mark out compartments at about 10 cm / 4" with pins and stitch along those.

Fill your compartments using a funnel to 3/4 with anything that will store heat like dry beans or rice. Fold the open edge over and pin each compartment to close after filling it. After all compartments have been filled stitch along the pins.

I didn't have rice or beans at home so I used the tiny alphabet and star pasta that had been in our pantry for way too long. It's so cute but it took up so much space and no one ever wanted to eat it. I love that I found a good use for it.

Almost ready to use, slide the inner heat pack into your cover, close the velcro…

… pop into microwave, close door and run on high for about three minutes and it's ready to use! Aaaahhh!