Hello Readers. This might be a crazy post. Maybe I am the only middle aged woman who snuggles up with her heating pad all winter. But it's cold and my back hurts. I like to sit in a comfy chair and relax. I also want my chair to look nice. (That just adds to the whole experience.) Let me show you what I made.
Make a Heating Pad Look Like a Throw Pillow
Here is my heating pad. It isn't cute. It's not decorative at all. I really like it though. It is cold where I live and it is cozy. I am also middle-aged and that mean my back hurts on a regular basis. This heating pad came with a fabric cover that was made of cheap ugly polyester fabric. It was like a pillowcase and it slid off the heating pad all the time. I think I can make something prettier and something that stays on.
I used my heating pad as a guide about how big my piece of fabric needed to be. I could fold this fabric over and it would make a good sized cover for the heating pad. I left my self a half inch extra fabric all around the heating pad. I want it to lay flat in the cover when I am done. I don't want the heating pad bent or folded on itself. I don't want it to be lumpy, that would be uncomfortable to me and I don't want it to overheat. It needs adequate space.
I want this cover to be closed around the heating pad but it needs an opening for the power cord to hang out. That mean I can sew the cover closed on 3 sides and leave an opening on part a corner. That is where my cord is, on one corner of the heating pad. I need to accommodate that. I used my serger on the edge I am pointing to to close the cut edge of the fabric. A zigzag stitch along the edge would work well too. When I fold it in half, this will be a corner of the cover.
I put the heating pad aside for now. I folded my fabric in half and lined up all the edges. I sewed them together all around the cover, except that corner where the cord will be. I sewed with the cover right side out. I used a serger but a zigzag stitch would work for this too.
You can see my finished cover here. There is an opening about 4 inches long on the corner. That is just what I needed. The edges of the opening are finished with stitching because I sewed that part first, then I sewed the whole cover together.
I loosely rolled the heating pad, sort of like a burrito. This will help me slip it in the cover. I didn't roll it too tight, I didn't want to break any components inside.
I pushed the heating pad into the cover and it slid in easily.
I reached in to unroll the heating pad, flatten it out and move it into place.
Here is my finished cover. The cord is coming out of the lower left corner where I am pointing. I
tucked the cord out the side of the chair and it looks a throw pillow.
Here is a close look at the open corner. It has the stitching on the
edge that I did first. That will protect the fabric from fraying. The
rest of the cover has the 2 layers of fabric stitched together.
My cozy spot is always ready for me to settle in and use the heating pad on my back but it looks pretty cute just sitting by itself too. Thanks for reading along, stay warm and cozy!
***Year End Update***- I am still middle aged, my back still hurts, and I am still using this heating pad.
