now for some of you, you might just want to move right along because heck, nursing pads can only be so interesting. but for maybe one of my six faithful blog readers it will be life changing information. or something like that.
so first some background info on why in the world i would make my own nursing pads. well, first of all those suckers are expensive and i plan on nursing claire for quite a while. secondly, i have bought washable nursing pads before and they were a huge fail. they were just plain flat circles that cause the infamous "saucer boob." not cute. i really wanted a contoured nursing pad that had some shape and fit better under my clothes. thirdly, i was in a "make-something-with-the-sewing-machine" kind of mood. and lastly, now i can sound hip and say that i made them because it's better for the environment, it's all the rage.
now, if you are still with me and still interested then here we go.
disclaimer: i don't really sew much. i am no martha stewart and frankly i can hardly thread my old sewing machine or wind the bobbin. i have to get the instructions out every time. in fact i cuss at it a lot, the poor old sewing machine. basically i don't know what i'm doing. but i can cut circles and sew them together and wear them where no one will see. and i don't think my boobs mind what they look like. they haven't complained yet. alright, now we can move along.
this will make around 14 pairs of nursing pads. each pad i make has three layers of flannel and one layer of fleece.
supplies:
- 2 yards of flannel
- 1 yard of fleece
- something circular to trace circles with (i used a glass bowl that a 6 inch or so diameter)
- scissors or a fabric cutter thingy (can't remember what it was called). the fabric cutter thingy was worth its weight in gold. so much faster than cutting with scissors. just be sure to use something under it to protect the table or your workspace. of course most people who own a sewing machine probably already have these things.
- sewing machine (duh)
here are a few of my supplies: bowl, sharpie, fabric cutter thingy
***wash and dry all fabrics first***
first lay your fabric out and trace circles. to save time fold your fabric in half before tracing circles. try to trace as many circles on your fabric as possible. you will end up with a lot of fleece leftover. each of my nursing pads had three layers of flannel and one layer of fleece for the back. once all of your circles are traced, cut them all out.
once all your circles are cut, layer three pieces of flannel and one piece of fleece together. make sure your pretty pattern is facing out (the flannel is the side that faces the boob and the fleece goes against the bra).
after your circles have been layered together you are going to cut a pizza shape out of each stack. this will help to give the pad a contoured shape.
i kept the original piece of pizza shaped fabric as a guide for every other stack of circles so they each had the same sized slice cut out of them.
once all your pizza pieces are cut out it's time to whip out your circa 1962 sewing machine that your wonderful mother-in-law has permanently lent you and get to work.
first you are going to sew together the pizza slice edges to give the nursing pad it's contour shape.
be careful to hold all the edges together so all the seams are closed. once you have stitched the first side be sure to flip it over to the fleece side and make sure the seam is closed completely. if not just stitch down the fleece side as well.
lastly you serge the edges. i did the best i could since i don't have a serger and heck, i don't really know what a serger is! but anyway, serge around the edges to close it all together.
in the end you should en up with something like the pair below. you can see the fleece side and the flannel side and the stitching down the middle of them.
so far i really like these. i have tried them at night and by morning they had leaked somewhat because claire slept pretty much all night so i was pretty full of milk and leaking quite a bit. but if you leak a lot you could always add a layer of hemp or other very absorbent material. i tried to make a "nighttime" pair with a layer of hemp cotton but they were too thick for my sewing machine to sew together.
so that's it! if i can make these anyone can.
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