Feeling like a DIY Queen

This week I got together with my little sister to realize my dream of cloth pads. Some of you may not want to know any more at this point but yes, Becky and I made our own cloth menstrual pads. I've been thinking about buying some for a while but just never got around to it. No store in town sells them and when I tried on-line I must have entered something wrong because I was denied. Since I was a consumer failure I decided to make them. Plus with no job right now I have nothing but time on my hands. So we tromped down to the local Ben Franklin for some fabric.


The one I picked is the pale one. This one was my winner because it was the cheapest one there. Becky picked the rusty colored one because she didn't want the color to change as she used it. And the black is our hidden impermeable layer.
There are free patterns available on the internet but I wanted the full experience so I made my own pattern. This was time consuming and tricky. Becky just went with one she downloaded and they both turned out about the same. The difference is in time. She was sewing hers while I was still sketching. I would recommend just letting someone else do the pattern work.
I like to think the creative process is messy for everyone and the mess we made in less than a half hour is perfectly normal.


The pattern in the foreground is the one Becky used (it has snap printed on it) and the folded pieces in the back is the pattern I created.


Some people have pattern weights but I have agates. I am a geology student after all. The paper I'm using for a pattern is an old hydrogeology assignment that wasn't quite perfect so it was put aside for a project just like this. W(u) is the solution to the Theis equation or some such thing.
Sandwiched between the beautiful bottom layers was a layer of PUL - polyurethane lining - to prevent moisture from getting through.


I sewed the bottom or wing layer together first with the liner in it. Then I attached all the upper layers (a flannel cover with 4 cotton layers) to each other. Finally I folded the upper flannel layer around the inner cotton ones and sewed them all to the wing piece.

The folding was the hardest part and may have been made easier with the use of an iron but I didn't want to drag it out. I didn't iron any of the pieces like I should have.

Tusk loves to sleep on the table in the spare room. Maybe because the room is generally unused and thus it is quieter in there. He didn't seem mind the noise from the sewing machine and stayed with me the entire time. What a sweet kitty. . . kind of. Mom made the mistake of leaving clean laundry on the table over the weekend. Tusk loved that but when Mom saw all the cat hair when she returned on Monday she was not happy. Live and learn, Mom.
All in all I feel it was a sucess. I only made one and want do more. I may try a couple of different designs to see which ones work best. I have no idea if the one I made will work at all. Next time I'll bring out the iron and when I buy new fabric I'll go for something less clashing. I don't know if we could have set up a worse color combination.
I want to give a shout out to Becky; these projects are always more fun when someone else is excited about them too. So thanks for the help. And if you didn't get a look at the mess you left behind here it is.


No worries, I took care of it. . . this time. (cue ominous music)