The idea. Recently I asked my neighbor to borrow a hot water bottle. She instead offered use of an organic neck wrap that simply required 2min in the microwave. I found the same rice pad on amazon for $14.

Improvements. The pad I borrowed was huge. The heavy pad made it difficult to use comfortably. All I needed was a basic pad.

My first video! The photos were taken when I made the initial pad. I then went back and stitched a second in my first video. I've continued to see recording video as a significant hurdle. Here is my first - I hope you enjoy!Certainly welcome any encouragement in the contents, a like or subscribe is also most welcome!!

Shoot... adding this note a couple hours after posting and seeing now this is not as original as I first thought:

Carlyy's - '10 Homemade Heating Pad... as far as I can tell the original and most viewed at over 843k
Danger is My Middle's - '12 Microwave Heating Pad widely viewed at over 104k
HollyMann's - '13 Christmas Gift Pads even more impressive at over 206k
OrangeBerry's - '16 Rice Bag Heating Pack a significant 3.5k

Step 1: Rice Pad

Rice for Heat. The use of rice for heating really is perfect. There is just enough mass + moisture to create a heated pad that lasts for about 30min... what I expect from a classic water bottle. No need to wet the rice. If you do choose to wet the rice be sure to have a towel ready... it's hot!

Filling the Bag. You have an option to fill the bag before or after you stitch...

Filling First -when my neck hurt I simply filled the bag and stitched away. It made for a less straight line and I then needed to seam rip the first after I stitched a second straight line.
Filling Second - in the video I show the method of first stitching the line but leaving 1" shy of the end. Using this method you have to only stitch a small portion once the rice is in the bag. It's much easier to manage at this point.

Step 2: Sewing the Pad

By Machine. My approach is to use the portable Singer Sewing Machine I've had for years. It's a vintage model and I highly recommend to anyone that frequents thrift stores picking one up. In any salvation army across the country you can pickup a sewing machine for <$20. It's an amazing deal. You can always buy a new model but the quality of the new ones is much lower, in my opinion, than the all metal vintage models.

By Hand. Whole process can also be done by hand. It just takes 10min vs. 1min.

Stitching. Here are a few shots of my foot riding along the lines of the plaid material. Very useful. I start and end the stitch by running in opposite directions (back/forward, forward/backward). ---sorry that I have no vocab for sewing.

General Note on Sewing. Sewing is the first craft I learned. Before I ever picked up a saw I had learned to operate a sewing machine. The sewing machine is a powerful tool. Just like carpentry a good tailor knows how to create their own tools, understand materials and use templates to be more efficient.

Step 3: Final Product

Simple + Customize. The product is simple. A pillow case or tube filled with rice. It's an easy first project or one that can be improved in any number of ways for a custom heating pad.

Rice v. Water. I can't see ever using a water bottle for heating again. So much easier to simply microwave the pad for 2min over dealing with boiling water.

Thanks for reading! Jeff

Here are a few recent Creative Misuse projects: