Upcycled Sweater Heart Hand Warmers Tutorial
/Sometimes I get these overly ambitious ideas and that is as far as they go. Just big ideas.Sometimes, a year or so later, I actually act on them. And, more often than not, it was a lot easier than I anticipated.
This particular big idea: I wanted to make hand warmers from sweater scraps. I made some sweater pillows (some are still not finished, so I will blog about them eventually) and I have a pile of sleeves laying around. Originally, I was going to make hand warmers for my kids' classmates for Valentine's Day, but I really don't have that much ambition. I realized that they are best in pairs, so I would have to make 80+ hearts. No, thank you! Instead, I gave them out as little thank you gifts for some friends and family.
They are soft and lavender scented and pretty. Just microwave them for about 30 seconds and tuck them in your pocket. They make a really pretty little favor or thank you gift. I just tied mine with baker's twine and made little tags to go with them.
I took some pictures to show you how to make them, and I even did it two different ways to make it even more beginner-friendly!
Start with your fabric- I used scraps from a sweater sleeve.
Make a template- mine are about 3" across. I used an old receipt from the grocery store. Place the sweater scraps right side out and pin the template to them. You want to leave some extra fabric all around the template so that there is wiggle room if/when it shifts.
Start on the straight side of one heart just before it starts to curve. Backstitch, then sew all around the template, leaving a small opening on the straight side. I used a receipt because if I caught the edge of the paper it didn't matter- it tears away easily.
Take our your pins and remove the template.
Fill the hand warmer with rice. (A funnel is really helpful!) I mixed mine with some lavender essential oil.
Sew the opening closed. It is a straight line, so it is pretty easy!
Use pinking shears to trim all the way around the heart.
Easy, right?
But there is another way to do it that I found to be even easier...
Draw a template on a piece of tissue paper.
Pin the template to your sweater pieces- I just folded the bottom of the sleeve in half, keeping the right sides out.
Now, here is the even easier step... sew right on top of the tissue paper, following the lines you drew on the template. Again, start on the straight side right before the heart starts to curve and leave an opening at the end, stopping a half inch or so after the point at the bottom of the heart.
See? The tissue paper just tears right off!
Now, the only downside that I found was that the pencil from the template made my threads darker. So, if this bothers you, don't say that I didn't warn you. I put it in bold AND italics. Maybe a Frixion pen would work and iron out? If you try it, let me know! I can't find mine.
If you want to pin it for laterβ¦
Here are some more ideas you might likeβ¦