RICE BAGS

I made 25 Rice bags for Christmas gifts this year.  They always seem to be a favorite, especially to non-sewers.  I used this pattern LAZY GIRL RICE BAG .   I have made it several times before, always intending to make the zipper bag, but I never got that far.

The first bags I made a few years ago had muslin for the inner liner and cotton fabric for the outer.  This year I decided to dive into my huge flannel stash and make all of them out of a double layer of flannel, which seems to retain the heat and are more snuggly.

I will admit that it took me 24 bags to get the idea of just layering the two fabrics and sewing them together as one unit.  Doing it this way saves an entire step.  I also printed out use labels onto printer fabric and zig zag stitched it 1" in on one corner of the outer bag before I sewed them.  I think that most people know how to use rice bags, but you never know.  I marked the outer bag every 2.5" with a chalk pencil and filled each section with 1/3 cup of rice.

I got 25 pound bags of rice at Sams club for less than 10 dollars.  All in all a nice, economical gift that people seem to really like.   Just an idea if you want to get started early for next year!

Keep warm!
Teri