Nursing Pad Tutorial

Hello!! Recently I've started to chronicle my DIY adventures on this blog because in reality, THAT is what my family is up to right now! I talked about all of the fun things we've done in our house so far in this post. I am a serious NOVICE at most of this DIY stuff. But there is something I've gotten pretty good at over the past 2 years. Making Nursing Pads, and dang good ones at that!

When my 2nd daughter was born, see this post, I was all about breastfeeding! I've touched on this in a few of my other posts. Part of breastfeeding, is managing leaking milk in between feedings. Lovely right? Liquid gold going to waste? UGH. But was even more frustrating is the cost of nursing pads. I had a large supply, and lots of leaking, and so I was going through about 8-10 pairs of nursing pads a day! Which meant I was spending $30 a week on nursing pads, easily! That's more than I was spending on diapers! I knew that eventually my leaking would slow down, but until then, I was throwing money away!! I looked at reusable ones, but I was worried about size, and absorbency. So, I decided to make my own. Originally I got help from my genius mother, who is all knowing about sewing. Now, I have the pattern down and I can whip out a dozen nursing pads in 30 minutes.

I've made these for a few friends, who have really liked them. So, here's a quick tutorial, so that YOU can custom make nursing pads and stop wasting money or waking up soaking wet!

Supplies:

Fleece (any color, but I use neutrals)
Flannel (One or two kinds, I'll explain later)
Scissors
Circle to trace 4-5 in in diameter (Or larger or smaller to fit your preference!)

Fleece will be used as a barrier to protect your bra/clothes. It works well to repel moisture. If you don't believe me, put a few drops of water on a piece of fleece, you'll see!

Flannel is used as the soft side against your breast, and also as the absorbent core of the nursing pad. I use cheaper plain flannel for the inside and cute flannel for the outer layer. You can use the same kind for both if you want!

Start by tracing your circle onto some flannel to create a template. It is much easier than tracing a circle 100s of times!

Notice that one of my templates is slightly smaller, about 1/4 - 1/2 in. This is the template you'll use for the interior pieces. By making them a tad smaller, the edges aren't as bulky when you sew and they fit much nicer!

To make 10 nursing pads you will need:
10 Large Fleece Circles
10 Large Flannel Circles
20 Small Flannel Circles

(I use 2 interior layers for my regular nursing pads. I made nighttime nursing pads using 3 interior flannel layers, for extra absorbency. )

Cut out your circles and put them in 3 stacks. Then you can start assembling your pads. I do one at a time.

One Large Flannel, 2 Smaller Flannel, 1 Large Fleece. You will sandwich them together making sure that the right side of the flannel is facing out.

I put one pin in the center to keep all the layers in place until I can put a few stitches in.

Set your sewing machine to a basic straight stitch. You will want to sew two curved lines (kinda like a baseball) to hold the pieces together. I've done straight lines too, but the curved ones help the pad cup better to the breast.

Once your lines are finished you can trim off any excess from the flannel or fleece around the edges, and finish them! I usually sew the curved lines on all the pads first, trim them, then finish the edges last. It seems to go faster this way.

I use a zig zag stitch on the edge to finish it and prevent fraying since these will get used, and washed often. It might take a few tests to see how wide you want your zig zag, and how close together you want your stitches. You want to stitch right on the edge so that you are enclosing the top and bottom layer completely. If you have a different stitch that would work for this, go for it!!

You can do two passes if you feel like the first one didn't get close enough to the edge, or the stitches were too far apart. After you are done, tie your ends, trim any excess thread and you are done!!

Cute baby shower present, hospital gift, or just to make for yourself! My mom and I originally made 30 day time pads, and 12 night time pads. I used these for the entire time I nursed, which was 18 MONTHS! I talked about my breastfeeding journey here. So I can tell you they hold up well, and I plan to use them again when we have more kids.

I wash them normally with the rest of my burp rags, baby blankets, baby clothes. Every few months I would do an extra soak with Oxy Clean, just to refresh them. They are super absorbent, easy to make, comfortable to wear, and much more cost effective & environmentally friendly!

I hope you found this tutorial easy to follow, and if you have any questions, please let me know!

Until Next Time, Happy Blogging!