Buckwheat hulls perfect stuff for pillows full of support

Pamper yourself: Relax with buckwheat hulls. No, you don’t eat them or make them into a facial mask. You make pillows out of them.

Buckwheat hulls are the byproduct of milling buckwheat for flour, as the Bouchard family does in Fort Kent. The Bouchards use the flour for pancakes, or ployes, and other buckwheat products – which you eat, another way to pamper yourself – but I digress.

Buckwheat hull pillows give excellent support during sleep because the hulls match the contours of the neck and head. They have a crunchy kind of texture and rustle a bit under your ear, but not in an annoying way.

It’s easy and economical to make a buckwheat pillow, even if you are a novice on the sewing machine.

You will need:

. Two pieces of woven cotton fabric, such as oxford cloth, flannel or a good quality muslin or sheeting measuring 14 by 20 inches.

. Three to 4 pounds of buckwheat hulls.

Here’s what you do:

. Pin the two pieces of fabric together, with right sides facing one another. Using a sewing machine, stitch together the two pieces of fabric using a ?-inch seam allowance, leaving a 4-inch opening in one seam. Stitch around the seam a second time 1/4 inch from first stitching. Trim. Turn to right side.

. Cut the top and bottom off a small soda bottle, or remove both ends of a small, clean tin can – such as a tomato paste can. Use this as a funnel. Insert it into the seam opening. Pour in the buckwheat through the improvised funnel. Fill generously, but leave enough space so the pillow is malleable. Remove the funnel. Whipstitch or machine sew the opening closed. When doing this step, beware of escaping buckwheat hulls. If they get away from you, it’s not pretty.

. Or, if you prefer and have the skill, sew a 7-inch zipper into one of the seams. That way you can easily add or subtract buckwheat hulls to make the pillow firmer or softer. After a few weeks of use, the hulls may flatten and you may want to add more. Having a zipper in the seam makes it easy to add more hulls.

. Next, make a case to fit the pillow. I made one of floral print flannel with yellow ribbon ties at the open end. Or let your imagination roam and do some fancy embroidery or crochet along the open edge.

Basically, that’s it. You can make pillows larger or smaller. The big ones provide excellent support for knees and arms if you like a “body” pillow. The small ones are great to tuck behind your back or neck when traveling or at work. The small pillows also can be tossed in the freezer – put it in a zipper-type plastic bag first so it won’t absorb food smells – to use as a cold pack, or heated in a microwave and used as a hot pack.

Recently, I made a small buckwheat pillow from a scrap of cotton drapery fabric, in a rose print, and backed it with dusty blue silk. It is destined to live in the freezer, on call to ease tendonitis attacks.

Buckwheat hulls may have a dust factor, so those who suffer from allergies should be sure that the hulls are sifted and vacuumed. The hulls also should be certified as organic – not sprayed with pesticides. Another potential allergy problem might be mold spores in the hulls.

The Green Store in Belfast, 338-4045, sells buckwheat hulls in 2- and 23-pound bags.

The Natural Living Center in Bangor sells buckwheat hulls by the pound so you may purchase as little or as much as you want. Call the store at 990-2646 for more information.

Bouchard’s in Fort Kent has buckwheat hulls available, too.

“We can sell you truckloads,” a family spokesman joked. Call Bouchard’s at (800) 239-3237.

Snippets

The Bay School Winter Faire, in which more than 50 juried artisans participate, is set for 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 6 and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 7, at George Stevens Academy, Blue Hill. Call 374-2187 to obtain more information.

Ardeana Hamlin welcomes suggestions. Call 990-8153, or e-mail ahamlin@bangordailynews.net.