Flaxseed pocket warmers are easy to make from fabric scraps or even muslin bags. If you work outside in the winter, these are a welcome comfort on a cold day.
In the old days, children walking to school or farmers working out in the woodlot put a baked potato or a hard boiled egg in their pockets to place icy fingers when the mittens became damp or cold. These natural pocket warmers provided extra warmth on icy, damp mornings and helped to increase circulation and keep the whole body warm. Today there are “hot pockets” and other chemical pocket warmers to help us stay warm. While the chemical warmth is helpful in emergencies, you don’t want to rely on them for everyday use. These DIY pocket warmers are something you can stitch in a half hour and have at the ready for some quick warmth any time you need them. Use them at the soccer game, while you watch the kids play. Use them at the ice rink during hockey practice. Use them when you are working in the garden, cleaning up debris. Walking in the park, scraping ice off the windshield, or waiting for the car to heat up on winter mornings you’ll appreciate the extra warmth and comfort of these easy to use pocket warmers.
You can use cotton fabric, fat quarters, or even worn or outgrown clothing to make them. Choose something that’s 100% cotton or a cotton-linen blend to withstand repeated microwave heating. Man made fibres tend to melt when they are heated, so avoid nylon and polyester fabrics for this project. This is a great project to re-purpose outgrown or worn blue jeans or even bath towels, too.
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DIY Flax Seed Pocket Warmers for Cozy Winter Hands
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
Description
Use these pocket warmers to keep your hands warm on drizzly or snowy winter mornings. Easy to make you can have a pair handy to use in just 30 minutes.
Ingredients
- Fat quarter or other cloth at least 9 inches wide by 18 inches long
- Matching or contrasting thread
- 4 cups of flax seed
- 2 tablespoons of herb (lavender flowers, lemon balm, chamomile, bee balm, thyme, rose petals)
- 40 drops of essential oils (sweet orange essential oil, lavender essential oil, lemon essential oil, balsam fir essential oil, or a blend you like)
- Thread for your sewing machine and to sew by hand.
Instructions
- Cut your fabric into a 4 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch squares. If you are making a lot of hand warmers for gifts, mark out your pattern piece on a piece of card stock and use this to mark your fabric using a pencil on the wrong side.
- Cut out the fabric along the marking lines.
- Put two pieces of fabric, right sides together. Pin along 3 sides. Sew 1/4 inch seam along 3 sides only, leaving one side open. Turn right side out. Press.
- Sew 3 channels in each bag by sewing a straight stitch through both layers at 1 1/2 inches from either side — Begin at 1 inch from the open top side and sew down the length of the square to the bottom edge. Repeat on the other side, being sure to leave the top, open side of the bag, free of stitching for one inch to allow for turning over the seam.
- Blend together flax, herbs, and essential oils. Using a funnel, fill the 3 channels of the bag with the flax-herb blend leaving the top inch free of filler.. Pack firmly into each channel. The filling will loosen once the bag is stitched shut.
- Fold over the top seam by 1/2 inch, with rough edges on the inside. Pin to close. Stitch closed by hand using a fine whip stitch. Bag is complete.
- Repeat with remaining fabric squares.
Notes
Quick to make. Use 100% cotton or a cotton linen blend fabric. You can easily upcycle any tightly woven clothing for this project. Worn blue jeans, canvas pants, or dad’s oxford shirts work well.
How to make flaxseed pocket warmers
Supplies needed to sew 4 pocket warmers:
- one fat quarter or other cloth at least 9 inches wide by 18 inches long
- Matching or contrasting thread
- 4 cups of flaxseed
- 2 tablespoons of herb (lavender flowers, lemon balm, chamomile, bee balm, thyme, rose petals)
- 40 drops of essential oils (sweet orange essential oil, lavender essential oil, lemon essential oil, balsam fir essential oil, or a blend you like)
- Thread for your sewing machine and to sew by hand.
Directions:
- Cut your fabric into 4 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch squares. If you are making a lot of hand warmers for gifts, mark out your pattern piece on a piece of card stock and use this to mark your fabric using a pencil on the wrong side.
- Cut out the fabric along the marking lines.
- Put two pieces of fabric, right sides together. Pin along 3 sides. Sew 1/4 inch seam along 3 sides only, leaving one side open. Turn right side out. Press.
- Sew 3 channels in each bag by sewing a straight stitch through both layers at 1 1/2 inches from either side — Begin at 1 inch from the open top side and sew down the length of the square to the bottom edge. Repeat on the other side, being sure to leave the top, open side of the bag, free of stitching for one inch to allow for turning over the seam.
- Blend flax, herbs, and essential oils. Using a funnel, fill the 3 channels of the bag with the flax-herb blend leaving the top inch free of filler… Pack firmly into each channel. The filling will loosen once the bag is stitched shut.
- Fold over the top seam by 1/2 inch, with rough edges on the inside. Pin to close. Stitch closed by hand using a fine whip stitch. The bag is complete.
- Repeat with remaining fabric squares.
How to use flaxseed pocket warmers
To use these DIY pocket warmers, microwave the bags in pairs for 30 to 45 seconds. The actual time will vary depending on the strength of your microwave, so check after 30 seconds and stop it when the bag is the temperature you desire. Be careful, these bags can become quite hot as the oil inside the flax seed warms up. Place the warmed pocked warmers into the pockets. When your hands become chilled, slip your gloved hands into your pockets to warm them from the residual warmth.
Use pocket warmers as a quick ice pack
These pocket warmers may also be used as an ice pack. Simply store a set of bags in the freezer. When you need them the ice pack will be ready to go. Place them over a bump or bruise to quickly relieve the pain. Use them to resolve a tension headache quickly. Just two hours in the freezer will be enough to chill the bag and make effective relief.
While you are stitching up these quick stocking stuffers, consider adding a matching lavender eye pillow for headaches or a DIY flax heating pad. It doesn’t take any additional effort to make both.
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