Recently a friend of mine had her 30th Birthday and to keep in with my challenge of only giving handmade gifts I wanted to make her something special. Being a hairdresser she often has a bad back and so I thought the perfect gift would be a heat cushion, and with Mothers Day coming up next weekend this would make a good gift for your Mum.

I used a pretty cotton fabric, a thicker linen fabric, rice, lavender and satin ribbon.

I am a beginner with my sewing machine but this didnt take much time at all to sew, the filling however took a bit of time...whilst watching The Waltons.




Step 1: Cut two pieces of fabric out 20cm x 40cm and lay together with the right sides facing, pin around the edges to sew leaving a 1cm seam allowance and a gap through which to turn the cushion the right way around and also for filling with rice.







Step 2: Sew all around the edges and leave the hole to fill the cushion up. Turn the fabric around the right way.









Step 3: The cushion needs to be divided into 4 sections, to do this measure where the centre is and pin; and then the centre of each of the two halves - dividing it into 4.







Step 4: Sew across the shorter sides of the fabric but leave about an inch gap at either end so the rise will get though.





Step 5: Mix up a bowl of rice and add either some essential oils, unused herbal tea bags or as I did - lavender seeds. Rice smells, well, of rice and once heated in the microwave you don't really want it to smell like a Chinese takeaway so its good to add something nice smelling. I used a ratio of apx. 2:1 (rice:lavender).

Then fill the cushion through the gap, I used a funnel with a long end and a chopstick to try and push it through to each section.




Step 6: Now for sewing up the hole. I managed to squidge the rice in the final section to one side so that I could sew by machine, but hand sewing would work just as well. In the sewing up, I added two lengths of ribbon (about 35cms each) which will wrap around the cushion and tie it up. Once sewn up, lay the cushion flat and push the rice around if necessary to make each section even.


If you are giving this cushion as a gift it would be an idea to add a tag with instructions - heat in the microwave a minute at a time until at the desired temperature, I would suggest a couple of minutes is fine. Some cushions I have seen on sale also advise to pop a cup of water in the microwave at the same time so the rice has a little moisture in the air and wont burn. The cushion could also go in the freezer for an hour and act as a cold pack.


If you make one, I would love to see what fabrics you pick!!

Enjoy x

Most people struggle with creativity at times and I am definitely one of those people. When I feel life is a bit hectic with other goings on (moving, Christmas, getting sick) I really do struggle to feel inspired or sit down and make something. So I was really pleased to find this infographic with 29 Ways to Stay Creative.

How do you kick-start your creativity if you are struggling?

29 Ways to Stay Creative from behance.net

A few offline friends have asked me how my "Thirty Before Thirty" challenge has been going as I have not updated here much, life seems to get in the way of blogging and that is something I plan to rectify this year. The last update I posted about my challenge was back in August when I turned the big 3-0. I decided that turning thirty was a time for reflection but also a time to take some pressure off and so my challenge became a "within my 30th year" challenge.

For those new to my blog, you can read about my original Thirty before Thirty challenge on this blog

But here we go for an update.....

1. Own a sewing machine - DONE!!!!! I treat myself to a beautiful Janome DC3050 as you can see here, I love it and sewed a few Christmas presents with it. 
2. Learn to knit socks - um, not yet.
3. Visit Buckingham Palace - DONE!
4. Swim in a lake or stand under a waterfall - I am off to Scotland over Easter, maybe then!
5. Own a home (the BIG challenge) - well, I havent bought a home yet, but I have moved my life to Cambridge and in with my amazing boyfriend in to his lovely flat. I love my "home 2" and we are slowly beginning to talk of plans for buying a house in the Cambridge area next year.
6. Be debt free except from a mortgage if Num 5 happens - working on it.
7. Visit Dickens House - DONE!
8. Go to a soap making workshop - DONE! and we you may know, I now also sell my lovely handmade soap.
9. Learn to hang wall paper - DONE! When I moved, we built a craft storage zone and I wanted a pretty backing paper so I wallpapered some wood, ok so its not exactly hanging wallpaper but it was a start.
10. Spend a night on the Norfolk Broads - DONE! (sort of) Two holidays to Norfolk and not spent the night on a boat, but have been in the Broads.
11. Learn to make pastry - DONE! - When I had the flu in January I was off work and forced myself to do this so I made some homemade pasties and pies.
12. Learn the succession of kings and queens from William the Conqueror in 1066 - not yet.
13. Make and wear my own dress - not yet, but I am improving my sewing skills a lot.
14. Read 5 books from my bookshelf - I currently own 40 books that I have not yet read - Um......
15. Have a make up lesson - DONE! and I have fallen in love with Bobbi Brown make up.
16. Do something every day to make me smile - DONE - I just have to look at my boyfriend and I smile inside and out at how lucky I am.  
17. Learn to change a car tyre - hmmmm.
18. Be able to jog a mile with out stopping - with my leg issues this is a BIG thing - I have now quit the gym because I could not justify the money I was spending. Fitness improvement is a big aim for me this year.
19. Go to Rome or Sorrento - DONE! - a trip to Rome back in 2011.
20. Sleep for 6.5+ hours sleep a night consistently - I'm getting about 6hrs on average now, this still needs to improve.
21. Visit Giant's Causeway - Hoping to go in August this year.
22. Have a dinner party - DONE!!! Not only dinner parties but my 30th birthday party was quite a challenge, '50s themed and making all of the food.
23. Have Butterfly-Crafts mentioned in a newspaper or magazine - DONE!!! I am so pleased to have been in our local paper and also Craft Seller magazine a few times.
24. Sleep under the stars - not yet, but in the hope there will be a nice hot summer, I can sleep out on my decking.
25. Live as much of a handmade/homemade/economical life as possible - I made a lot of my Christmas gifts for 2012 and this year have a challenge to make as many of my gifts as I need as possible and I will blog about them too.
26. Begin to have the stamina, strength & body shape from pre-leg issues - this isn't really tangible is it now, but see #18.
27. Watch: Goodfellas, Casablanca, Dr Zhivago, Gone With the Wind, The Philadephia Story, A Street Car Named Desire, Ferri Beulers Day Off, Schindler's List, The Godfather and Citizen Cane - I still have Goodfellas and Schindler's List to go. I have borrowed the latter from a friend to watch soon.
28. Go to a comedy club - we had hoped to do this in NYC but it didn't happen, hopefully will soon though.
29. Finish my knitted patchwork blanket - I haven't knitted in a while but our trip to Scotland is for rest and relaxation and so my blanket will come with me to work on. I think I have 8 squares out of 91 knitted!
30. Visit 15 exhibitions at museums and galleries - I have lost count the number of exhibitions I have been too but I should really see more whilst I am working in London to make the most of having them on my doorstep.

 Although I may not blog too frequently, I have created a Flickr Album for my "Thirtieth Year" in which I have been taking a photo a day for this year and have been writing a little about it. in which I have been taking a photo a day for this year and have been writing a little about it. Check out my Flickr profile to see the album.