Flax Herbal Bags
Much requested recipe from about 10 years ago on the Longarm Quilting list. I no longer have the name of who originally provided it.
You can tweek the recipe any way you want (i.e. more eucalyptus if you want it, etc) but you really shouldn't increase the white willow bark.
I've researched all these herbs and their uses and have found this to be a very good balance. WARNING-this makes enough for about 4 or 5 bags.
- 8 cups regular white rice (filler)
- 7 cups flax seed (filler)
- 5 TBS lemongrass (analgesic)
- 4 TBS hops (leave this out if you have a problem with alcohol addiction, no kidding!) (sedative)
- 4 TBS eucalyptus (sinus reliever)
- 1/2 cup lavender buds (calms nerves)
- 4 TBS rosemary (headache support)
- 3 TBS yarrow (healing support)
- 6 TBS chamomile (relaxing)
- 1 TBS powdered white willow bark (about 10 capsules if you have to buy it that way-this is a natural headache and fever reducer) (analgesic)
- 2 TBS valerian root, crushed (relaxing-anti spasm) 2 TBS yellow dock, crushed (circulatory support) 1 TBS cinnamon (anti spasm)
All of these items, with the exception of the flax seed and rice, should be in dried,crushed or powdered form. The valerian root and the yellow dock can be slightly crushed in a coffee grinder. Use your good judgement, lavender buds and chamomile don't need to be crushed, but you might want to remove some of the sharp stems of the chamomile so they don't poke thru the material of the bag, that sort of thing. I have listed what each item is usually used for. I am not claiming any of these have actual medical value or will heal any disease. These are just their traditional uses.
Mix these all together (I use one of those plastic gallon ice cream buckets with a lid and store the leftover mix in it, too.)
I use very good quality flannel for my bags. It should be a dense weave, if not, wash and dry it before using it to shrink the weave up tighter.
Cut an 12 by 10 inch piece and press one 12 inch edge under 1/2 inch (this will be the open edge where you fill it). Fold the whole piece in half (right sides together) to form a rectangle with the 1/2 inch turned under edge as one of the short ends. Stitch the 10 inch long side and the other short end using a 1/2 inch seam. Turn and press. Use a funnel and put 2
1/4 cups of the mix in the bag and top stitch the folded under edge shut.
Heat for 45 sec to 1 minute in the microwave. I can put one of these over my eyes and forehead for 20 min when I feel a migraine starting and it almost always makes it go away.
I have made these bigger to use as hot packs for sore muscles and smaller to use for children's "boo-boos". On the bigger ones, you may want to stitch channels in the bag and fill each one to keep the mix from just shifting all to one corner. If you want to make one of those big curved ones that you put around your neck and shoulders, make a pattern out of paper. Leave one end open, fill some, topstitch, fill some more, topstitch, etc, until you get it full. It's best if you leave these bags "floppy" cause they're not as comfortable if they're stuffed tight.
These are wonderful gifts for people. Just make sure they are not given to babies who may chew on them. They could end up with diarrhea cause flax seed is used to help relieve constipation!
Addendum:
Try cutting flannel 18" X 7", right sides together sew 3 sides. Turn right side out, fill with flax seed, hand sew the opening. You can make a cover for it also that you can wash. Do NOT microwave too long or the Flax will start to POP!
