Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Look! We're Famous!

Ok, famous might be a stretch... But we did get a mention on In This Crazy Life's March Tips and Tricks! I shared some of my great grandmother's trips with her on a post a while back and she shared them with the world. Thanks Nana for always knowing how to fix stuff, thanks In This Crazy Life for a fantastic blog, and thanks all of you for reading!

On another note, I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend and a "Hoppy" Easter. I'm excited to share stuff I cooked and made with you, as soon as life settles down a little bit. Have a fantastic week!

Monday, April 2, 2012

Microwaveable Hot Pack Slippers

     So for Christmas I made a bunch of my friends and family microwaveable hot packs to carry or stick in their pockets. One of my brothers likes them for going to class in the winter and some of my friends use them for walking the dog on cold days. I basically sewed a pouch out of denim, filled it with rice, and sewed it closed and had a hand warmer. They were so simple I began to wonder what else I could make into a "warmer". My youngest brother and I are both dancers, and sore feet are par for the course, so for his birthday I made him hot pack slippers. I loved this because I got to scrap-bust, and use some of the rice leftover from the handwarmers I had made for Christmas.
     I started by tracing my brother's (GIANT) shoe onto paper, folding it in half, and cutting out for a pattern. I then cut four "bottom" pieces according to this pattern, and four top pieces that were about half as long as the pattern and a bit wider near the middle of the foot.


     I took two bottom pieces and places them right side to right side and sewed three sides of the slipper leaving the toe area open. I repeated this with the other two bottoms, and the top pieces. I then turned all four pieces right side out. I sewed channels into each pouch from the open end back and used a paper funnel to fill these channels with rice. Do not fill excessively, give the rice a little space. I only filled the channels about half way up. Warning: Do this in an area where a little spilling is ok, it got messy... there was rice everywhere!

     Once the channels were filled with rice I pinned the ends closed. I sewed the ends closed, worked the rice down the channels so it filled them up evenly, then sewed across the pieces, locking the rice in place.


      Next I cut out soles of felt the same size and shape as the slipper and put those to the side. (Denim would work equally well) I placed two of the pieces of the top of the slipper right side to right side and again sewed three sides leaving the toe open. I flipped the top right side out and made channels the same way I did the bottoms, then continued filling them with rice, sewing the toe closed, and then sewing the rice into smaller pockets. After completing both tops and both soles I then machine stitched the tops of the slippers to the foot.


      I took left over material and made binding for the slippers, pinned the felt soles to the bottom of the slippers, pinned the binding around the edges securing the slipper soles, bottoms, and tops together. I used embroidery thread to sew the binding in place.


    I gave these to him with instructions to microwave them for no more than a minute! They kind of flop around, they're not exactly designed for walking in, but they are great for relaxing in!