Sewing Projects

Cloth Liners First Attempts

Hello There!! Sorry AGAIN that I haven’t posted for a bit. I’ve been working super hard on this project and it’s been taking a lot longer than I originally thought. I wasn’t going to post anything about these but its taking so long I wouldn’t have any blog content for this week if I didn’t. So here!, read all about my periods if you wish to. If you don’t want to I hope to have another blog post up around Wednesday.

These shoddily sewn blue thingys are cloth panty liners. Basically the same as a regular plastic liner, except they are made out of fabric and you wash them instead of throwing them away. I am currently in the process of making cloth period pads too but they aren’t finished. I’ve been debating whether or not to switch over to cloth for years now and finally decided to take the plunge this week and make some. I came across them a few years ago in an article claiming that they could make your period less painful. I very seriously doubt that they could, but I loved the idea of them. I decided to make the switch recently because my periods are pretty much hell and I’m willing to try anything that will make them a little more comfortable.

I opted to make my pads instead of buying them new because I’m broke, basically. I just bought myself a £700 sewing machine for my 20th birthday so I can’t justify spending £150 on cloth pads right now.I’ve mostly used spare/ upcycled fabrics to make them. I raided my wardrobe for old leggings, pyjamas and hoodies… basically anything made out of cotton or viscose. The only fabrics I purchased to make my pads are PUL (a waterproof breathable lining fabric) and some Zorb, which is absorbent, hence the name. These came to a total of £30 and I’m expecting to get around 25 pads out of them which is pretty great.

reusable pad core

I am not proud of the stitching on these at all. I’ve been kind of rushing them in hopes of getting them finished before my next cycle so they look awful. That blue stretchy viscose I was using in the core of my pad was horrific to sew with. I’m glad it’s going to be hidden. I keep telling myself it doesn’t matter because they are only going in my knickers and nobody will see them, but it kinda does matter. I want to sew professionally one day so I should probably treat this as more of a learning experience.

Now, I’m fully aware that this may seem gross to you but calm down babe, it’s not that disgusting. Cloth pads are actually more natural and sanitary than disposable ones, they are much less likely to irritate your girly bits and are a lot more comfortable to wear. It’s more eco-friendly too! It just seems like the more sensible option in every way. I know this may not be the general opinion though. I was watching a youtube video about how to make these and one of the comments was “How can she talk about this with no shame.” It pisses me off so much when people are rude like this, let me give you a list of reasons why:

Periods are 10000% natural. They are as natural as sleeping and eating. It’s about time we accepted the fact that we have them and stop treating it like a dirty secret.
If you are making fun of someone washing a pad instead of throwing it away, consider the effect that your “disgusting” thrown away pads are having in landfill right now. They’ll be there for about 1000 years.
I also get the impression that this kind of thing is seen as an extreme way to save money, and people are ridiculed for it? I have no time for anyone who laughs at someone for not being able to afford something. It’s not primary school any more hun.
Not everyone has a great experience with disposables. Period pads can give you some nasty ingrown hairs if you shave down there, and I’m sure that anyone who has experienced pad rash before can tell you how awful it is.
What someone does with their private parts is their own damn business anyway.

ANYWAY

It’s my 20th Birthday tomorrow, I’m going to see suicide squad with my boyf & then we are going to go to McDonalds. I just figured out that if you order the veggie burger without sauce it’s vegan, so I’m just going to put some of their curry sauce on it. I’m also going to see if I can get Ryan to take some pictures of me wearing the skirt I made last week for a blog post, I’m also going to do one about what I got for my birthday 😀

See you soon! Byeeeee

With me doing a fashion course and all I decided this was the year when I finally made my halloween costume. I wanted to go as a witch, and I wanted it to look similar to the type of costume you can get for little girls. I already had a black dress with a spiky neckline and sleeves that I could use as a base but I wanted to turn it into a witches dress for the one night without ruining it forever. I decided to make an elasticated witches skirt that I could simply slip over my dress to turn it into an instant witch dress. I’m so happy with how it turned out.

The first thing I did was go to Cardiff Market and pick out my fabric. Immediately I was drawn to a pink glittery fabric which I regret because it was absolutely hell to work it. It was gorgeous though, very witchy. I also bought a sheer black fabric to go with the pink fabric. They we’re both £5.99 a metre which was really surprising, I could have got away with half a metre but was too shy to ask if they sold fabric in half metres. I absolutely loved the fabric stall at Cardiff Indoor Market, I want to go back and have a proper look at all the beautiful fabrics. Sometimes fabric shops can be quite limited and not stock many fashion fabrics but this one looked fantastic.

To make it I cut each fabric into spiky strips, I made enough in both colours to make the skirt very layered and beautiful. The black fabric frayed quite easily so I ran the edges of it along the flame of a candle to melt the edges. It was impossible to get a straight line using this method but it added it to the effect. The pink fabric didn’t fray at all and it was highly flammable so I just cut that fabric. To actually make the skirt I made a waistband out of elastic. I then pinned the strips of fabric to the waistband and sewed them on in layers. I tried to concentrate the pink fabric at the front of the skirt because it looked nicer in multiple layers. I finished it all in about 2 hours, and it cost just £12 (not including the cost of the dress that I already owned)

For the rest of my costume I went on a hunt around Cardiff looking for ways to make me look more witchy. I found a really cute pink witches hat in pound land that suited my costume perfectly. I found these great stripy pink socks in claires accessories and wore them over some sparkly fishnet tights. I saw a tiara and a wand in the children’s section of another pound shop and last minute decided I was going to go as a princess witch. I used some of the pink fabric to make the wand look cooler, and sewed the tiara onto the witches hat. That was my costume completely finished and all for under £15, which I think is fantastic considering I spent £40 last year. I liked it more than last years costume too.

This year my boyfriend started university and is currently living in student accommodation in Cardiff, so Cardiff was the obvious choice for our night out. We decided to buy tickets to Pryzm because thats one of our favourite nightclubs and at £15 it was one of the cheapest options. It was alright there but the fact that it was £6.50 for a double vodka and orange killed my night. They didn’t really have much there to justify the price either, I was expecting more than just a few decorations but that’s basically the only difference between the halloween event and a normal night there. Despite how expensive it was I still had an amazing time, there were so many amazing costumes there. I had a very happy halloween.

Sewing Projects

Making Reusable Cloth Pads & Liners!

My DIY Halloween Costume & What I Did on Halloween