Crafty Wednesday Tutorial: Wheat Bag Fun Times

When Mr S came to bed the other night and stole our one and only wheat bag off my bump he said 'Why don't you make some wheat bags? I can get the linseed from my work and it makes sense to have more than one in our house.' I knew his feet were cold and he just wanted the warm wheat bag, but I also knew that he made sense.

So behold, a tutorial for you! It is really SO straightforward and took less than an hour, including the cover. And now you've got some instructions and no baby brain, I expect it will take you even less time.

Not Wheat But Linseed Instead Bag Tutorial

YOU WILL NEED:

1 x 24inch x 13inch rectangle of calico
Approx 2kg linseeds
Your noble steed (sewing machine)
Your best sewing friend (my iron)
A ruler
A fabric marker
Chocolate brownie
Cup of tea

WHAT TO DO:

1. Fold your rectangle in half longways, so you've got a rectangle that's 12inch x 13inch. Stitch around the two short sides with a 1/4inch seam allowance, and stitch the top 2/3 closed.
   
   
2. Are you feeling pedantic? Trim corners and turn inside out. Not pedantic? Just turn it inside out.
3. Give it a light press with your iron.
4. Measure up and divide your sewn rectangle into thirds. I realised I'm crap at dividing inches into thirds, and went with the 'near enough' theory.
   
5. Have a bite of brownie and a sip of tea.
6. Sew 2/3 along your first line.
7. Using a jug/funnel/SOME directional implement and preferably OVER a bowl, pour 2 cups of linseed into your bag. Jiggle it around to make it stay in the channel. It should look a bit like this.
   
8. Push all the linseed to the bottom of the channel and finish sewing the line across.
9. Sew the next line 2/3 across and fill and sew in the same fashion.
10. When you reach your last channel, fill in carefully and sew the edge closed, ensuring that you fold the seams in as you sew. I promise you I trimmed the threads after I took this photo.
    
11. Finish your tea and enjoy your brownie!

The Cover

Millie was still asleep so I decided to make a cover for the Not Wheat But Linseed Bag.
Here's where I clearly didn't imbibe enough chocolate brownies to be entirely accurate, nor did I take any notes. I am now 35.5 weeks pregnant and it is almost a week later than when I made this and took the photos, so bear with me. Do as I say, not as photos say I did.

YOU WILL NEED

1 piece of fabric 15.5inches x 12 inches
1 piece of fabric 22 inches x 12 inches
More brownies
Another cup of tea

WHAT TO DO

1. Overlock one of the shorter edges of both your pieces.
2. On both pieces, fold over your overlocked piece and finish the seams. Alternatively you can do a rolled seam here for a neat finish.
3. Fold the finished seam edge of the 15.5inch x 12 inch piece over 6 inches to create a 'pocket'.
   
4. Place both pieces right sides together, so your 'pocket' piece is facing up.
5. Sew around using a 1/4 inch allowance.
6. Overlock/zigzag seams and trim threads.
7. Heat your Not Wheat But Linseed Bag up and pop it in the case.
8. More brownie.
9. More tea.
10. Yay!

I hope you enjoy this. It was such a quick project that's been so very useful! What are you making this week? Link your posts up below.