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]

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.