New Pads!

[norskjente]

So I came home from college for winter break a few days ago and realized that I left my entire stash at school! I knew I was going to start bleeding today, so last night I reunited with my sewing machine and have been cranking out pads like a madwoman. I even made a Christmas one :) Sorry for the bad photo quality, these were taken with my macbook

Comments

[oceansolitude]

Those are great. Although it sucks you left your stash at school, you will now get to bring these new ones to add to the mix!

[neonvultures]

I love them! They look professional. Did you make the pattern yourself?

[laviefacile]

If you made the pattern yourself, could you post it? I love the shape. Full tute isn't necessary unless other people want it.

I'm amazed you made so many so quickly! It takes me forever to sew anything.

It takes me forever too!

[lilmissanthropy]

That's totally what I was thinking! It takes me like an hour to crank out each pad. I'm also a novice at sewing, and more of a perfectionist than I would like to admit!

[norskjente]

I would post it but I don't have anything other than my macbook camera at home right now and it's impossible to get good/accurate photos. But literally all I did was mark length and width on a piece of cardboard then freehand a general pad shape until I was happy with it :)

Yeah, I'm a really speedy sewer for some reason. I'm not anywhere near a perfectionist so the topstitching is a little wonky, etc, but it only ends up taking me like 10 minutes per pad.

[blondeamazon]

I have to ask something that has been bugging me since I heard of using cloth pads. Don't the light colored ones get stained quickly?

[oceansolitude]

For some people yes, for others no. I have heard that different people's blood reacts differently. Mine stain no matter what concoction I scrub/soak/wash with, while other people are able to have stain free pads.
A stain doesn't mean its dirty. Since I am the only one that sees them, the stains don't bug me.

[indigo_dawn]

Nope, not if the blood is still wet when you wash it out. Only dried blood stains. If you still want to use light coloured pads, obviously colours like pink don't show stains as dramatically.

[oceansolitude]

I can rinse when it is wet and the blood still stains. Rinsing early would get more of the stain out, but no matter what my blood stains stuff.

nice pads

[trinserengel]

Very well done. I just finished making pads for myself. I used t-shirts and stuff. Heard somewhere that t-shirts aren't the best for pads, is this true? Because they seem to be working fine. Where did you get your pattern? Are the AIO's or pocket?

Sorry lot's of ?'s, new to making pads.

Re: nice pads

[norskjente]

Thanks! I made the pattern myself, just kind of drew it freehand in a shape I liked. These are AIO, with a 2 layer bamboo fleece core.

Are you using t-shirt material for the entire pad? Jersey, etc. is great for the tops of pads, but you'd probably need a lot of layers to make it absorbent enough if you're using it for the core, so it might get kind of bulky. But if the pads you made are working for you then it doesn't matter :)

Re: nice pads

[trinserengel]

yeah, they are working for me. I make the pad inserts 8 layers thick. I want to make some out of flannel. I made 4 more out of a flannel shirt today.

I used to make diapers out of t-shirts for my daughters, and they always worked just fine too.

more pad questions

[trinserengel]

Just wondering, when sewing pocket pads, do you need two layers for the top? I've been making mine out of t-shirt material, and they seem kind of flimsy. I would have posted on the community website, but I haven't figgured out how to do that yet. I hope you don't mind me asking you.

Re: more pad questions

[norskjente]

I don't mind at all. I've never made pocket pads before, but I'm just guessing that if you sew an extra layer or two of either the tshirt material or a slightly sturdier fabric like flannel or woven quilter's cotton to the top it would help with the flimsiness :)

Re: more pad questions

[trinserengel]

I had no idea you could use quilters cotton for pads. Wouldn't that stain easier? I will definitley have to try that, quilters cotton comes in so many different designs.

Re: more pad questions

[norskjente]

I've used quilters cotton for almost all the pads I've made (most of the ones in this post are quilters cotton tops), and a lot of the pads I've bought are also topped with quilters cotton. It washes well and stays looking nice for a long time. If you're worried about staining, go for a darker color or print, but I've never really had a problem with staining, even with lighter fabrics.