The Natural Woman: MENSTRUAL PAD (sophisticated version, but really easy)

Hi everybody!

I wrote a post a while ago about cloth menstrual pads, In that post, I explain why I no longer use throw-away pads and tampons and then I wrote how to make cloth pads. It was a very simplistic version and after using them for about a year I got fed up of sometimes having stained knickers! I made them using just flannel fabric, which is very absorbent but I didn't use a waterproof layer underneath which meant after a while it would reach the layer of my knickers if I wasn't mindful ... I made those because I couldn't be bothered to find and buy some waterproof fabric to make proper menstrual pads. Now I finally got my act together to find out what the best fabric for it was and so I made some awesome looking, great feeling, absorbent and waterproof, easy to make, cloth menstrual pads! yay!!! (also I didn't use to have a sewing machine, which makes it easier and quicker to make)

MATERIALS
-scissors
-sewing machine or needle and thread
-pen
-A4 white paper
-pins
-a towel (this is the absorbent fabric)
-PUL fabric (this is the waterproof fabric)
-some scrap fabric
-snaps (to fasten the pad around the knickers, to stay in place - cos' no sticky back)

METHOD

1_ Draw the shape of the pad on a piece of paper and then cut out. The exact shape that you want. You can base this on a trow-away pad that you like and adapt it to how you really would want it to be. I made 2 sizes; a day size and a night size. I have seen this shape and size night-size but it's how I want it to be, not how the supermarkets want it. So make something that makes you comfortable.

Those are my paper cut outs. You can later choose to use the stencil or cut out, I use either sepending on how I feel the situation.

2_ Draw around the paper, onto to towel fabric, then cut out the shape. Cut 3 out, because there will be 3 layers. This is the night one.

3_ Layer the 3 shapes, and pin them to stay in place then sew down the middle, to keep it together. I sewed 2 lines, for the style. It reminds me of store-bought pads and I find the look professional. This is a day pad.

4_ Make 2 tabs out of scrap fabric, about the size of a fat thumb, and sew onto the back of the pad as follows. This is still the day pad, I just used a different coloured towel. Don't worry if the back looks a bit messy, it'll be covered by the PUL fabric.

5_ Take your paper cut out and draw around it on the PUL fabric, then cut it out.

6_ Sew the PUL to the back of the pad, sew around the edges. This is what the pad looks like now, the PUL is the back and the soft towel is the front.

7_ Sew the snaps on the flaps. To place them right, put the pad in a clean pair of knickers, put it in the position you'll want to wear it , turn the knickers around, whilst holding the pad and lay it on the table. see where the flaps meet and draw a dot on the 2 flaps where the snaps will need to be sewed on. Then sew. Make sure to sew them on the correct side of the flaps and in their right way too!