Heating Pad *Facelift*

A couple of months ago when I was feeling under the weather...
and my back was aching, too...
Westin ran to Target for me and got a heating pad.This was also the same night that he changed the brakes on my car...
after getting home from school at 6:30pm...
and didn't get finished until 11:30pm.

I ask again... isn't he such a sweetheart?!

Yes, yes he is!!!

This amazing heating pad...
(with 4 heat levels... and a self-shutoff!!!)
had such a hideously awful cover to it!

And if you know me... you know I have texture issues.

The original heating pad cover didn't have a texture so awful that I couldn't touch it,
but it was pretty bad.

My original thought was to pull apart an old pair of flannel pj's that I had come across at Mom and Dad's house.

After a night of seam ripping...

and only getting one section off...

I gave up on that idea.

I was wandering around Target again tonight and saw these super-cute hand towels:
Really, how could you pass those up?!

Cute and funky enough for me!!

And "Manly" enough for Westin!!
(Just in case he ever needs to use it!)

The towels were double sided.

Rectangles on one side... squares on the other.

So I set the heating pad on top of the towel and gave myself a "dotted" outline with blue painters' tape. (I wasn't really sure how else to mark it on a black towel?!)
Then I made an outline of the heating pad with more blue painters' tape.
Now, the outside edge of the blue tape lines (not dashes) are the outside edge of the heating pad.
This is now the moment when I had a "duh!" moment.

I don't own pins.

Like... none.

I looked at them at Wal-Mart and Michaels the other day.

But they were SO expensive for a small pack of pins.

Needless to say... I didn't buy any.

So I had to get creative... which I'm pretty good at lately!

I used my "craft needles".

(And I'm proud to say I only poked myself ONCE with them while sewing!)
Here's one in action:
And LOOK!

I threaded my needle and bobbin on the first try!!
Then I sewed around the blue tape edge.

I didn't take any pictures of this step, because it was black thread on black towel.

It didn't show up real well.

After sewing it all together I needed to sew the velcro on.

Another "duh!" moment.

Should've sewn the velcro on FIRST!

Next time I'll know.

This was kind of a pain... trying to sew it on when the "bag" was already sewn together!

I tried to zig-zag stitch it and kept running into problems.

My top thread came out half-way down the velcro.

My stitches were super close.

My stitches were really spread out.

I think I went over the velcro 5 times with the sewing machine!!

Here's how it turned out... hopefully it stays!!
I then went back out into the living room to cut off the excess towel from my new cover.

I cut...

And I cut...

And I cut....

And when I pulled the scraps away and held up the bag the couch and I were covered in little towel pieces!

I'd forgotten what a mess it made to cut a towel.

Just call this "duh!" moment number 3.

I flipped the bag right side out...

SQUEEZED it onto my heating pad...
(it was just a little tight!)

and...

TADA!!!!
JUST how I wanted it to look!

Then I flipped it over and saw...
Yep.

I made the sides the opposite design.

Not even on purpose.

My plan all along had been to do rectangles on both sides.

But...

I still think it's super-cute!

I think I'm starting to get the hang of this thing!

*KatyPie*