Reusable Nursing pads

This is a super old project that I never posted on because, well, let's just say I am busy...  Hence the not posting for 7 months.  Oops.  Anywho, I loved these little lifesavers and they saved me a bundle since I didn't have to buy nursing pads for the year and couple months that I breastfed.

My breast feeding experience included a lot of leaking. My milk supply is shall we say... Ample. To give you a nice TMI, if I didn't nurse or express frequently enough, I was likely to shoot your eye out. As a result I burned through breast pads pretty quickly. I didn't want to use disposables since I was trying to be eco friendly, and the reusable pads I found didn't quite work.  The store bought ones were itchy, the handmade ones seemed really expensive, and ones that didn't have the drawbacks above couldn't dried in a dryer.  I laugh thinking about hanging up or laying out billions of tiny little fabric rounds.  People already thought they were coasters all the time.  So not working for me.

So, of course, I decided to make my own. I made some burp cloths and swaddle blankets so I had lots of scrap flannel lying around. I didn't trust layers of flannel to be absorbent enough so I cut up towels to layer between two pretty flannel pieces.

Reusable Nursing Pads

1) Make a cardboard template. Find a circle to use, like a coaster (haha) or bowl, or draw one with a compass (or use the string and a pin method). Mine was about 4" in diameter although a bit bigger might be nice for larger breasted mommies.  I am rather small busted, so adjust as you see fit.

2) Use your template to trace circles on your flannel and your old towel.  You can use a sharpie for this as you will be cutting them out, and if you have a serger, you will be trimming off the ends. For each pair you need 4 flannel circles for the outside and 2 terry cloth (towel) circles for the absorbent layer.

3) Cut out the circles and stack them up flannel, towel, flannel. Make sure the pretty side of the flannel is facing out.  Line up the edges the best you can.

4) Serge the edges, going slowly enough to keep the round shape and all the layers even. Make sure the layers don't bunch. If bunching is a problem, baste the layers together in an x before serging. This should help.  If you don't own a serger, you can turn and top stitch.  It will take longer, but is still really cheap and easy!

Some people say to use PUL (a waterproof material) for the backing. I'm a little afraid to use waterproof material because it's not breathable and can encourage yeast growth which causes thrush.

Don't want to make them yourself?  Check out my Etsy shop to buy a few pairs!

Reusable flannel wipes

Remember how I told you to keep those flannel scraps from the swaddle blanket post? I used flannel scraps to make reusable wipes to compliment my cloth diapering. These work great with plain water or homemade wipe solution if you prefer, and clean up even really nasty messes. And they are REALLY easy, especially if you have a serger. I seem to say that every other post haha. Feel free to explore other fabrics, too. I heard that velour is awesome, although pricey. But hey, scraps are free, right?? Oh, one note. Do NOT use fleece (or most other synthetics). It doesn't absorb water into its fibers because they are synthetic and not porous, and it will just smear everything around and make a mess.

Reusable wipes
Materials:
Large pieces of flannel scraps or other material (steer clear of white)
Serger or sewing machine
Scissors
Cardboard scrap or cardstock
Pen or marker that will write on fabric

Step 1: Measure a piece of cardboard or other stiff material that is 8"x8". Round off the edges with a cup or other circle to trace. If you want, do it on paper first so you can fold it and have it be perfectly even and then cut the cardboard. But remember - they will be used to wipe poo so beauty doesn't count much :)

Step 2: Trace squares onto your fabric scraps using your pen. Try not to use one that bleeds really badly. You can use a disappearing ink one if you like, but cut quickly then. Remember you can rotate the square to be a diamond too, if that makes more fit.

Step 3: Cut out your squares.

Step 4: Finish your edges. Zig zag or serge around them, use bias tape, or you can try to narrow hem them if you like, but I think it will end up too bulky and be too time consuming to be worth it. Just remember to pre shrink bias tape so it doesn't pucker after repeat washings. (sorry, no photo.  Hubby took the ones above, but I finished the project another day and forgot... oops)

You are done! If you choose to serge the edges as I did, take the time to tuck in the threads instead of just snipping them off. Use a needle to weave the thread ends into a few stitches and then cut off the excess. It is annoying and takes some time, but I skipped that step on my second batch and they are already unraveling.

Add fabric and trim to a travel wipe case to have a nice little matched set!

The nice thing about these is that when folded in half, they fit perfectly in a Huggies travel wipe case. I heard about people making 4x8 ones to fit in without folding, but I think that is too skinny to get the job done. Others say to use 2 squares of flannel back to back.  While this is attractive, my one layer guys are doing great, and I can't see justifying twice the bulk.  One travel wipe case full of cloth wipes us more than enough for one day's worth of changes for my 3 month old. I made about 35-40 wipes or so, and I never run out before wash day (about every other day). This is a great way to recycle old receiving blankets, too. I got some free off craigs list with some other baby stuff I was buying and added to my stash! Yay earth! Double win!

How I love my serger - Let me count the ways: One, two, three threads...

Well, I am working away on the doublet for my hubby.  Its coming along, but I refuse to even take pics of it because it is so far from complete.  There are so many small steps to everything, like pressing, serging, turning, hand stitching, pounding eyelets, etc...  Will I ever finish?

So I am taking a quick moment instead to say how much I love my serger.  I have a Huskylock that my grandmother gave me.  Meaning its really nice and barely used.  She complained that she was too old to learn how to use something new.  haha.  So not true, Nana, but I am loving the new (to me) toy!

Assuming you don't know what a serger is, it is a machine that simultaneously trims a seam as it sews over the edge to prevent fraying.  This does double duty at cleaning up the garment - no more bulky seam allowances and no more fraying!  If you have done a zig zag stitch, the serged stitch looks similar, only it is done with 3 or 4 threads instead of only 2, and they wrap over themselves on the edge to really bind it up.  The down side is, sergers are a PAIN to thread, and since they require at least 3 large cones of thread to work, they take a separate thread inventory and much longer to switch colors from project to project.

Random tip:  You can quickly change the thread on a serger by cutting the old thread very close to the spool and tying the new thread to the old thread using a square knot.  Once you have tied all three threads to their new counterpart, run the machine SLOWLY using the foot pedal.  Watch the knot from the needle thread and do NOT let the knot run through the eye of the needle unless you want to buy a new needle! (it will break the needle or at the very least, bend it out of usability)  Once the needle thread knot gets close to the eye of the needle, snip it out and thread the eye of the needle with the new thread by hand.  The upper and lower looper thread will be fine running the knot through it, so don't worry about them.  An alternative to watching the needle thread like a hawk is to just knot the looper threads and rethread the needle by hand as it is MUCH simpler than the other two.

So, the plus to having a serger is that all those seams that fray and ruin your outfit after a few washings or itch and rub on you, or that you feel you have to french seam are dealt with.  Most ready to wear items (stuff you buy in a store) have serged seams, and it really does help with the durability of the garment.  Some people skip machine sewing altogether and go straight to the serger when constructing something.  I, however, make just enough mistakes to make this a very bad idea.  I like the option of tearing out what I just did, so I machine sew and then clean up the seam with a serged edge.  I don't have 3 cones of serger thread in many color varieties, so I find myself using white or black thread most of the time, which is fine since the seams are on the inside anyway.  Its a good cheat :-)

But finishing seams is not the only trick sergers are good for!  A serged seam in a contrasting color of thread can be great decoration, they can be a quick way to finish hemmed edges on shirts, skirts, and knit items (very trendy in RTW right now) without actually hemming, or a fast way to make cloth napkins or curtains and the like.  Having a folded, finished hem is not always necessary, and having a pink edge on a white tee can be super cute, so feel free to play with the possibilities!