Okay.

[conuly]

So how much fabric would I buy, to make one pad?

Assume it's quite large (I tend to leak front *and* back) and that it has enough liners in it for a very heavy day. I can estimate down from that, but it's hard to estimate up.

So how much flannel for the top, and something waterproof for the bottom, and what's good and cheap and how much of whatever-it-is for the middle?

And all these patterns want me to serge. Can I serge with a sewing machine? Can I get by without serging? What *is* serging?

Comments

[moggymania.livejournal.com]

I can't answer the rest, but from my days sewing, I can answer about serging. :o)

If you turn a garment inside-out, the serging is that thread at the seams/hem that joins two sides with a complex pattern that goes not just in-and-out, but around the edge of the two pieces. I don't know about newer machines, but a lot of older ones couldn't do it, since it also required it to automatically hold & trim the cloth equally to make an even seam.

Here's a good description with pictures:
http://sewing.about.com/library/weekly/aa071798.htm

[conuly]

Ohhhhhh. Could I do it by hand if my machine wouldn't do it? Everybody seems to assume I'll need a serger or a machine that does serging, that can't be true, can it?

[kittikattie.livejournal.com]

You really can't serge without a machine. You can straight stitch and then buttonhole stitch around and get close enough.

[conuly]

Okay. So it wouldn't be the same thing, but it'd do in a pinch.

[moggymania.livejournal.com]

It wouldn't be true "serging" but I think it should be possible from what I remember of my mother's work when she was active as a (skilled) designer/seamstress. She didn't have a serger, so she was using a combination of hand & machine for infant christening gowns, wedding dresses, and costumes for the local college theater & ballet studio performances... I'll have to ask her about the project, and see what she thinks or suggests. (I think there's some kind of technique one uses in this kind of case, where the fabric is folded over before being sewn together, or is sewn together then folded over and reinforced, but I could be wrong.)

Otherwise... It might be different now, but it used to be that some sewing chain stores would rent the machines both in-store (like by the hour) and for home use -- maybe you could get one that way? Or look on Freecycle or the freebies area of Craigslist, to see if anyone is planning on getting rid of an older one that works but isn't fancy enough to sell?

[moggymania.livejournal.com]

OK, I asked -- she said that no, you don't need a serge machine to get a sufficient edge. The recommendation was

-- Set up the pad in the pattern the way you'll want it to be when finished. Hand-sew a few long threads (longer than the length of the pad) to hang off middle of the back curve. (I'd add that braiding them or something could be useful.)

-- Change the order everything will go in so it's inside-out -- the inner layers should be on the top/bottom, and then the outer parts in the middle. Arrange the long loose threads so they reach all the way up through the center to stick out the top.

-- Use a sewing machine at 6 stitches/inch, around everything *but* the top curve, which must be left open.

-- Push the back of the pad up through the hole you left, so it's now right-side out. You can use the long loose threads to help pull the back end all the way through.

-- Close the opening by hand. There are two good stitches for this:
----A. Inside/inner: sewing the edges together while they're together on the inside (so the seam is invisible like on the rest of the pad).
----B. Whip: sewing edges together on the outside, by circling the edge in a tight spiral, like a fake serge. (That is, you always go in from the same side by looping over the joining-edge of the two sides.)

That should be about it, though if you're like me, you'll finish and discover you've got half the pieces backwards or something. *grin*

[conuly]

So I do it like a pillowcase, then? I mean, like an inside-out-pillowcase that I intend to do something with.

[gingembre.livejournal.com]

The option you're talking about (and I don't think it's the same as what your mom suggested which is great for this project) is using a French seam, which is essentially sewing the seam, tucking it back into a pocket of itself and then sewing closed the edge of that pocket. It is a bit time intensive but really much MUCH easier than my above description makes it sound lol. (I should know - I used it on my very first sewing-machine project ever!)

[wodhaund.livejournal.com]

A good tight zigzag will suffice in lieu of serging.

[wodhaund.livejournal.com]

Edit for clarification:

Zigzag stitch the edges of your pieces before sewing them together, then sew all as normal.

Serging serves to prevent fraying and attach multiple pieces together at once. Zigzagging and then sewing serves the same purpose, with one more step.

[moggymania.livejournal.com]

I can't answer the rest, but from my days sewing, I can answer about serging. :o)

If you turn a garment inside-out, the serging is that thread at the seams/hem that joins two sides with a complex pattern that goes not just in-and-out, but around the edge of the two pieces. I don't know about newer machines, but a lot of older ones couldn't do it, since it also required it to automatically hold & trim the cloth equally to make an even seam.

Here's a good description with pictures:
http://sewing.about.com/library/weekly/aa071798.htm

[conuly]

Ohhhhhh. Could I do it by hand if my machine wouldn't do it? Everybody seems to assume I'll need a serger or a machine that does serging, that can't be true, can it?

[kittikattie.livejournal.com]

You really can't serge without a machine. You can straight stitch and then buttonhole stitch around and get close enough.

[conuly]

Okay. So it wouldn't be the same thing, but it'd do in a pinch.

[moggymania.livejournal.com]

It wouldn't be true "serging" but I think it should be possible from what I remember of my mother's work when she was active as a (skilled) designer/seamstress. She didn't have a serger, so she was using a combination of hand & machine for infant christening gowns, wedding dresses, and costumes for the local college theater & ballet studio performances... I'll have to ask her about the project, and see what she thinks or suggests. (I think there's some kind of technique one uses in this kind of case, where the fabric is folded over before being sewn together, or is sewn together then folded over and reinforced, but I could be wrong.)

Otherwise... It might be different now, but it used to be that some sewing chain stores would rent the machines both in-store (like by the hour) and for home use -- maybe you could get one that way? Or look on Freecycle or the freebies area of Craigslist, to see if anyone is planning on getting rid of an older one that works but isn't fancy enough to sell?

[moggymania.livejournal.com]

OK, I asked -- she said that no, you don't need a serge machine to get a sufficient edge. The recommendation was

-- Set up the pad in the pattern the way you'll want it to be when finished. Hand-sew a few long threads (longer than the length of the pad) to hang off middle of the back curve. (I'd add that braiding them or something could be useful.)

-- Change the order everything will go in so it's inside-out -- the inner layers should be on the top/bottom, and then the outer parts in the middle. Arrange the long loose threads so they reach all the way up through the center to stick out the top.

-- Use a sewing machine at 6 stitches/inch, around everything *but* the top curve, which must be left open.

-- Push the back of the pad up through the hole you left, so it's now right-side out. You can use the long loose threads to help pull the back end all the way through.

-- Close the opening by hand. There are two good stitches for this:
----A. Inside/inner: sewing the edges together while they're together on the inside (so the seam is invisible like on the rest of the pad).
----B. Whip: sewing edges together on the outside, by circling the edge in a tight spiral, like a fake serge. (That is, you always go in from the same side by looping over the joining-edge of the two sides.)

That should be about it, though if you're like me, you'll finish and discover you've got half the pieces backwards or something. *grin*

[conuly]

So I do it like a pillowcase, then? I mean, like an inside-out-pillowcase that I intend to do something with.

[gingembre.livejournal.com]

The option you're talking about (and I don't think it's the same as what your mom suggested which is great for this project) is using a French seam, which is essentially sewing the seam, tucking it back into a pocket of itself and then sewing closed the edge of that pocket. It is a bit time intensive but really much MUCH easier than my above description makes it sound lol. (I should know - I used it on my very first sewing-machine project ever!)

[wodhaund.livejournal.com]

A good tight zigzag will suffice in lieu of serging.

[wodhaund.livejournal.com]

Edit for clarification:

Zigzag stitch the edges of your pieces before sewing them together, then sew all as normal.

Serging serves to prevent fraying and attach multiple pieces together at once. Zigzagging and then sewing serves the same purpose, with one more step.