I was SO happy to get that finished this week. It was a long process but I am SO happy with the results. That will be posted on another day but I came up with this idea the other day and wanted to share it because I think it is a fun one.
Where Princess Three attends college can get very cold in the winter. Even at our home, sometimes I would find the bottom of her bed full of the corn heating bags that she liked to use at night to get her feet warm. I knew if I couldn't find one in the cupboard, I could find one in her room. Click here for a post about how I make those.
I have always thought that it would be good to make a "cover" for the bean bags as if they are by your feet or touching your body, they can get dirty. I have sometimes, just made a new cover and put it over the old or just made a new cover and thrown out the old one pouring the grain into the new bag as an easy replacement.
With this new one for Princess Three however, I didn't want her to have to replace it or for it to get dirty as it is so cute to match the quilt.
Basically, I just make a bean bag heating pad by using some of the left over t-shirt fabric I had from the quilt. I made a average size bag and used wheat to fill the bag.
I then took some cute retro looking avenger fabric and made a little cover for the bag, just a bit bigger than the heating bag. I found a really cute Superman symbol on a t-shirt at a second hand store for $1. I washed the shirt and then cut out the symbol as it was 3-D looking, I wanted something with some texture and depth. I used a zig-zag stitch with a width of 2 to attach the symbol to the front of the little pillow case that I made for the heating bag. Don't try and glue anything on the case as it may melt or cause toxic fumes when heated. I saw one once that someone used a glue gun to stick on a design they made out of felt on the front.
When heated in the microwave to heat the grain, the glue could melt and actually burn the user. It could be dangerous. Also, for a closure on the bag, you couldn't use snaps or a zipper as the metal parts could get hot and burn the user as well as causing sparks in the microwave.
You can't use velcro as it is a plastic product, it could melt and cause toxic fumes as well. I thought about tying it and using yarn but most yarn is made of man made products which would melt as well.
I decided to go with cotton string to tie the bottom of the "pillow case" closed. They won't melt or be toxic, they won't get hot and burn, and they are easily untied for washing of the cover when needed.
The thing I like about it is that it kinda looks like a little pillow and really, it could be used as a little pillow like the "buckwheat" pillows that were popular a few years back. Also, it looks cute on the bed and could be used as a little "throw" pillow to decorate the top of the bed with the long body pillow sham I made to go at the head of the bed. Click here for that post.
Lastly, a warning, don't ever use these bags on babies or the elderly as they can't tell you if they are too hot and these can cause burns. They have thin and sensitive skin that can be damaged easily. I usually make the bags out of thicker fabric but since she was going to have two layers, I figured the thin cuter fabric would be ok to use. Always test the heat on your sensitive (under upper arm, belly, etc) area before using with anyone other than yourself and never place directly on skin, put it over clothing just to be safe.
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