Making Cloth Pads
Which Style?
Underpants

Fabrics
   - Tops
   - Core
   - Waterproof
   - Backing
On a Budget

Patterns
Design your own
Pattern layout
Pattern Resizing

Construction
   - AIO Hidden Core
   - AIO channels
   - Pocket Pad
   - Base+Insert
   - Fold-up pad
   - Boostable pad
   - Belted pad

 
About Cloth Pads
(At www.clothpads.org) About Cloth Pads
How to use them
Cloth Pad Washing
Pros & Cons
Cloth Pad FAQ
Tips and Help
Where to buy Pads
Starting a Stash
Selling Pads
Cost of Pads
Pad History
Making your own Cloth Pads - Layout of the patterns

 
How you layout your pattern pieces depends on how much fabric you have and the shape and size of your pattern.
 
A core or oblong pad shape will be easy to layout, and doesn't waste much fabric at all. You can cut the core pieces with a square edge, but I find rounding them makes a neater and less pokey finish.
A contoured wingless pad can be "top and tailed" to use up a little less fabric. The top part of the image shows the top & tailed ones, the bottom shows how they would be if laid out all the right way up. it doesn't save much, but every bit helps.

You can see from this wingless example and the winged example below how much more fabric winged pads take up. You might be able to get 8 wingless pads out of the same piece of fabric you could get only 6 winged pads from.
 
Standard winged pads should fit together well (Left). Patterns with a flared end will generally slot well into each other if you have to put some pieces upside down to make them fit (Right)

Pocket pads need 2 back sections, which are each wider than half a pad,
but they can be laid out efficiently too.
 

 
How much fabric you will need will depend on how many pads you want to make from it, and also the pattern you are using. You can work that out by measuring the width and length of your patterns, and estimating how many you'll be able to cut out from your fabric. Always allow extra for shrinkage and the fact you'll probably lose some to fraying in the wash - and it's really frustrating if you can't get a pad in because your fabric is *just* that little bit too small for what you need.
 
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