Cuddling up with an herbal pillow is a good way to relieve stress, relax after a long day, or drift off to a good night's sleep. Herbal neck pillows can be heated in the microwave to relieve a stiff neck or sore muscles, or just to warm up on cold winter days. On hot days, they can be frozen for cool relief. It's easy to make your own herbal neck pillows, and you can fill them to suit your own preferences. Make an outer pillowcase for easy washing.
Instructions
1 ,Choose a high-quality muslin for the inner pillow, and cut two pieces measuring 16 ½ inches by 24 inches. Stack both pieces together and fold them in half lengthwise to form one rectangle of doubled fabric. Stitch the inner pillow around all three open sides, leaving a 2-inch opening on one of the short ends. Turn the inner pillow right side out. Set the inner pillow aside while you sew the outer pillow.
2,Cut a piece of cotton or flannel measuring 30 ½ inches by 20 ½ inches for the pillowcase. Fold the fabric to make a rectangle, and stitch the long edge and one short edge closed.
3,Fold the edges of the remaining, unsewn sides of the pillowcase down ½ inch. Press the seam, fold it down ½ inch again and topstitch the seam but don't sew it closed. Attach Velcro or snaps to the open end to create a closure for the pillowcase, or sew a casing and thread a piece of ribbon through.
4,Choose a filler for the herbal neck pillow. Buckwheat and flaxseed are the best choices because they retain heat well and are lightweight. If you're on a budget, rice, wheat and beans will work fairly well, but won't hold heat quite as well and won't be as flexible as buckwheat or flaxseed.
5,Mix your choice of herbs in with the filler. Good choices are lavender, eucalyptus, peppermint, cinnamon, cloves, rose petals, chamomile or lemon grass. Two parts filler to one part herbs is often a good ratio, but experiment to find the mixture that you like best. Be careful because too many herbs can be overpowering.
6, Use a large funnel to fill the inner bag about 2/3 full with the filler and herb mixture. Overfilling the bag will make it stiff and uncomfortable. Hand stitch the opening, and then put the inner bag inside the pillow case.
