UPCYCLING: Sweater Sleeve to Heating Pad

Now that the weather is dipping, it’s time to bust out those old sweaters. Not to wear… to cut up. Whoever first came up with the upcycle sweater idea was a genius. I’m sure you’ve seen plenty of sweater crafts. You can use the sleeves to cover cans and jars, make stockings and more.

For this project I used a sweater sleeve to make a rice filled heating pad.

Start with your old sweater. This one was my son’s and it’s way too small now. I don’t know why we still had a boy’s size sweater in his closet (the things you find in your kid’s rooms).


Cut off the sleeve and if you want add an embellishment. I used the argyle pattern from the body of the sweater to add a heart. A simple running stitch with bakers twine holds it on.


Fold the bottom ends to the inside and stitch closed. I used a little bit of fabric glue to seal the bottom end and then stitched it closed to make sure it was secure.


Fill the sleeve with rice and gather the top end. Stitch the top and gather your thread pulling tightly. Go around a few times to make sure it’s secure.

Tie the top end off with ribbon or cording.

Heat in the microwave for a minute or two. Check your pad every 30 seconds to that it doesn’t overheat. Heating will depend on how much rice you’ve used and your microwave.

Use your heating pad to warm up with a cup of tea and a good book. You’ll be surprised at how long it retains heat. Enjoy!

 

Thank you so much for stopping by.