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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 |
Sewing up an overlocked (serged) pad is simply a case of taking the layers of the pad and laying them down as you want them to be in the finished pad (eg backing (good side down), waterproofing, core, top (good side up), and overlocking/serging or use a zig zag stitch on your sewing machine to sew around. It is a lot quicker to make a pad in this way than Turning and Topstitching, and it allows you to use fabrics like terry on the top without having bulky edges like you might if you T&T it. A little tip someone gave me about overlocking pads, when you come to the wing, instead of trying to follow the curve of the wing (which can sometimes be tricky to get right because the blade wants to go straight but the pad edge curves)  Instead, pull the wing so it's straight, so you are overlocking a straight line, rather than a curve!  If using the zig zag stitch instead when making pads, it is best to make the stitch as wide and close together as possible (if your machine lets you adjust these) for a neater look. With an Overlocker/Serger, remember if you have a differential feed, that for cottons/PUL backing, it should be set at 1, but for fleece/wool backed pads, you'll probably want it on 2, so that you don't get a wavy edge. You may need to experiment a bit with that as some fabrics behave differently Making the pad this way you can have a pad made of just layers of terry or flannelette, (or you can include waterproofing and backing), so you do not need to have a separate top layer. You can make a very quick and easy basic pad by cutting a wingless pad shape and just sewing around it. Fabrics such as fleece or corduroy on the back of a wingless pad will help to keep it in place. You can do this with a winged pad too, but your wings will feel thinner if you sew the core onto a hidden layer, or only the top layer - rather than making the whole pad from several layers of thick fabric (if the wings have too much fabric, they will be bulky and won't want to fold over neatly). If you like wingless pads, but also like to have the option of wings... you can always make separate wings to wear with your wingless pads. See the patterns page for a pattern. Make a wing (Perhaps 3 layers of flannel/flannelette) and add fasteners, then wear that around the pad (so you'll have some of the wing ontop of the pad).  (Shows a wing snapped around a pad from the top and underneath view)  (Shows a wing sewn to the back of a pad and a pink-edged booster in place) Another option for wings is to make your wing pattern, and cut out your wingless pad...lay the pad pieces down upside down on your work surface (so the top of the pad touches the table, the backing faces you), then pin the wing ontop of the pad how it will sit once sewn, with the wings pointing inside the pad and pinned well out of the way of the edges, and then overlock/serge/zigzag around the pad - which will sew the wings on, keeping them underneath the pad (that's not explained very well, but I'll add pictures to explain that better soon) |
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