Making a scrap-busting heat bag
![](https://lizhaywood.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/heat-bag-denim-IMG_2445.jpg)
During the week I made a couple of heat bags designed for the neck and shoulders.
I made them out of scraps.
Wait a minute, don’t I only do zero waste? Why am I doing things with scraps? Yes, I do generate scraps, but now they’re all of the useable rectangular type. Typically they’re the end of a length of fabric, from my stash, the op shop or where an online purchase can only be made in .25m increments. (Take a look at my scrap sorting here.)
![heat bag piecing the fabric](https://lizhaywood.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/heat-bag-piecing-the-fabric-IMG_2398.jpg)
![Improv quilting book](https://lizhaywood.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/heat-bag-good-book-for-piecing-fabrics-IMG_2399.jpg)
(I borrowed it from the library, even though I’m not a quilter, and it was so good I bought a copy.)
![heat bag pattern](https://lizhaywood.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/heat-bag-pattern-cropped-and-resized.jpg)
I made two heat bags, one smaller and one bigger. For the smaller one (the top measurements) I used pieced fabrics. For the bigger one I used a jeans leg that happened to be the right width.
![heat bag sewing](https://lizhaywood.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/heat-bag-sewing-1024x500.jpg)
![Heat bags together unstuffed](https://lizhaywood.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/heat-bags-together-unstuffed-IMG_2411.jpg)
Unexpectedly, the small one turned out to be a better size.
![heat bag hand warmer sewing](https://lizhaywood.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/heat-bag-hand-warmer-sewing-IMG_2409.jpg)
![heat bag sewing the gap shut](https://lizhaywood.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/heat-bag-sewing-the-gap-shut-IMG_2428.jpg)
I stuffed the hand warmers firmly and the heat bags with some space. I might have put too much in the denim heat bag – we think it’s too heavy.
The heat bags get microwaved for 1, 2 or 3 minutes depending on your microwave (and a handwarmer maybe 10-20 seconds) and used for shoulder and neck pain management.
Here’s some wheat bag safety – don’t put them in your bed!
![heat bag hand warmer with coat](https://lizhaywood.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/heat-bag-hand-warmer-with-coat-IMG_2435.jpg)
Cheers!
Look great potatoes work well too and your lunch is ready to go
It’s that Irish in my DNA
Ah yes! I recall Laura Ingalls Wilder used hot spuds too 🙂