I’m making a travel pillow, and I’m going to fill it with microbeads, either ones I purchase at JoAnn’s, or from an existing pillow. Does anyone have any hints or tips on how to work with these beads so that I don’t get them spilled everywhere?
I recently made one of those microwaveable hot packs for sore muscles. I made mine with rice and flaxseed – I’d imagine working with rice is similar to working with those beads.
My pack had two, independent layers. First, I contained the rice in an inner pillow. I cut two rectangles maybe an inch smaller than those for the outer layer. I used regular quilting weight cotton, double-stitched the three sides for extra strength, turned it inside out and dumped in the rice+flax. Then I just sewed it closed – because you need to leave a decent amount of space so the grains can move around, it’s actually not all that difficult to sew. I was worried about that too, but if you’re careful, it’s actually pretty easy.
Then sewing the outer case is a piece of cake – you don’t need to worry about anything! You could even add a zipper so the outer layer is removable for washing.
I’ve never worked with them, but I’ve sold them. As I understand it, you cut a very small hole in the corner of the bag to put them into the pillow. Leave a small opening in the pillow to put them in. And expect them to cling to everything they touch. Whatever you do, do not open the bag any wider than you have to.
I think I’m going to be transferring them from the existing pillow to the liner of the new pillow. Maybe I should rig up a tube between the two to make transferring easier? And maybe I should do this outdoors? The new pillow is only going to be a third the size of the old one, so I’ll have to close the old one back up when I’m done.
If you’re making one from scratch, using rice means you can heat it up slightly in the microwave and use it as a heating pillow as well. Lavender makes it smell nice because, to me, hot, dry rice smells a little like dried pee.
No, this is going to be a travel pillow. Don’t need to heat it up…just need something squishy and small to rest my head on while riding on a bus for 5 hours…
Definitely do it outdoors. I’ve gotten some microbeads to try working with myself but haven’t worked up the nerve yet, but all the instructions I found said to do it outside just to avoid having microbeads coating everything in your house. And definitely use the smallest hole you can cut to pour them out because they’ll go everywhere and stick to everything.
You might also consider a double layer of fabric – the first microbead pillow I had got a tiny hole in it and next thing I knew the stupid things were everywhere. It was easier to just throw it out than to try to repair it. So an extra fabric layer would be good protection.
Why not use a funnel?
StG
I wondered about that…worried they might clog it up…
When I made a rice sock for the foot of my bed on cold winter nights, I made a funnel out of stiff paper. That way I could make the output hole as large as I needed.
StG
It’s done, it’s finished, it’s packed in the suitcase…and there are beads all over the picnic table and the back yard! Hope it doesn’t harm any confused birds. I should have used a metal funnel…there would have been less static electricity, and I should have put the opening on the end instead of the middle where the pattern called for it, and I should have had a helper…on a non-breezy day! But it worked out fine in the end, and I added some lavender to it…can’t wait to use it on the trip!
I’m glad it worked out for you. I should have mentioned the plastic - static thing. Those little buggers stick to everything!
Have a good trip (if you haven’t already).