Mainstream Pads

First off, I admit to poking fun at this subject. If you can't laugh with me, please do not subscribe to The Onion.
Menstrual pads have hit the mainstream shopping experience in Japan. My friend lives in Kyoto but there are other locations (franchise opportunity!) around Japan.

"Of course that shop has a website.  I found it tonight.  It's all in Japanese though." Janine was too amazed! to go back and snap a photo, but she coughed up the web site.

"Here is the main page:  http://www.remedy-garden.co.jp/

The first shop is the Kyoto headquarters:  http://www.remedy-garden.co.jp/pc/kyoto2.html"

 {I wonder if you get a discount on the sun-faded pads in the window?}

"There are lots of photos of the inside of the shop if you click on that link.

"The other two shops are in trendy Tokyo areas and the note in fancy green letters on the left says a new shop is opening in Aoyama on Jan. 18.  Aoyama is one of the more expensive areas of Tokyo.  Click on all the shops to see more pictures.  The shop on the far right, Jiyugaoka, has a good closeup of pads hanging in the show window and some lacy ones in the shop.

{Discretely hanging in the window}

{I don't know that I would go with white. They do tend to look grotty after a while.
Japanese Yen is around 1350 yen to 13 dollars or about a hundred yen to a dollar.}

"Here is the online shop:  http://www.remedygarden-online.com/

Look up above the windows to spot your size. {pun}

A Liberty print one will set you back 2200 yen, about $22.  http://www.remedygarden-online.com/products/detail.php?product_id=679"

{I tried to borrow the liberty print version of a menstrual pad but due to some computer issues (mine),  you'll have to settle on clicking through on the link. }

more liberty

{ Custom Enamel pail for soaking them - storing them.}

{Buying menstrual pads looks to be a very pleasant shopping experience in Japan.}

More On Pads, or Even More TMI

Well, apparently, I might be one of the last to talk about this subject in public.
My friend in Kyoto reports a shop there with these in the front window along with a pretty enamel pail to store them in. In fact, the entire shop sells women's menstrual pads.
I have sent her on special assignment to snap a photo because she was too embarrassed (!), after she got over her amazement (!),  of a whole shop (!), to take a photo.


I bought my first pads from a local seller on Etsy.
My primary reason was commercial panty liners were giving me a rash.
I finally got around to making my own, designing them longer for my peri-menapausal self.

My God, there are a bazillion tutorials out there.
Other women get those same rashes, but some claim their flow is less by using a more natural, breathable fabric.

{{Whatever are they putting in the commercial pads?}}



I created my pattern by drawing around a super long panty liner. The bottom pattern piece is the base that needs enough wing space to snap around your panties. Not rocket science and most of the free tutorials go this direction. You need to sew around those curves, so I chose to draw my wings this way. I also wanted to use my serger and these soft curves will work.

One gal likes the complete circle.


Sorry for the upside-down photos. I took them with my smarty-pants phone who sometimes throws a snit about uploading photos to the blog (BlogIt!  app). When I straightened up the photos and tried to re-upload them , the phone went into a trance; "No Internet Service". I swear that phone will make me smarter someday...

To make a pattern like this, I like to use plastic page dividers or card stock. Something I can draw around later with ease.  I found one page divider and drew the rest on a paper grocery bag which works well too. The grocery bag's pattern  advantage is it's size - less piecing on larger projects.


To make the underneath 'wing' base, I placed the pad shape on top and drew, freehand, the wings. You want the base to be a tad longer than the pad (in order to sew it down).
You want the wing base to be wide enough to snap together under the crotch of your panties.

Now if you are a little OCD (and you might need to work on that), you can make sure your wings are exactly the same. --Mine aren't which makes me happy as my OCD tends to flare up when my auto-immune is stressed.

You can add a taper in the middle to better fit between your legs.

I placed my patterns on my flannel and PUL fabric and drew around them. I cut them out with a rough 1/4" for the seam allowance and then serged them all leaving about 1.5" for turning.

Some of the how-to's involve a removable pad.
I might need to try these. My niece, had all-in-one diapers for her girls and they incorporated a removable absorbant pad.

This is how I ended up with the PUL fabric. My niece was trying to talk me into making AIO (all in one) diapers for her so she wouldn't have to pay $28 apiece. The PUL was staring me in the face when I was at Boersma's so I picked it up then. Once I figured out the time involved to make an AIO diaper, it got tucked away.




To make this seepage resistant, I utilized PUL fabric inside. This is in all diapers nowadays. But it isn't natural and I may make some without - especially the panty liner ones.

One of the sites mentioned this product and I am now on the look-out for it:  Water Resistant Wind Pro Fleece


I forget what these handy dandy turners are called. They have a rounded tip that will death grip onto a seam and turn things right-side-out super fast.


Before you sew the two sections together, make some stitch lines down the middle of the pad to prevent fabric bunching when washing.
Remember that hole where we turned it right-sides-out? Great thing about flannel is that you can just finger that raw edge inside and topstitch down. No need for hand-sewing these.
Because they were both flannel, I placed the pad on top of the base and topstitched it down in one big oval. Flannel doesn't creep like cotton fabrics will. I didn't use pins at all.
The last thing to do is install the plastic snaps. You want to use the plastic snaps because of laundering. The  metal ones will rust.


I can't believe I am talking panties, menstrual pads, and crotch on my blog. I dithered about it until Crafty Tokyo Mama (II) told me about the shop in Kyoto.
These are mainstream products now!

Use 100% Cotton Flannel. --More natural, better quality (quilter's flannel).
Although, it doesn't really matter. These are 'rags'. They are supposed to be sewn from stash. You shouldn't have to go buy supplies to make these (ahem, new plastic snap setter tool). Some people have reused old t-shirts (soft cotton knit), old flannel bathrobes, etc. You don't have to use PUL fabric as there are other options.

Laundering: My bathroom sink is private, so I throw them in here to soak. You can add vinegar to the water to naturally neutralize odors and bacteria. Then I throw them in my regular wash.

Oh - pick some pretty flannel. That's what most of the people who use cloth pads had to say. It makes your period a little less cursable.


Resources:

TIPNUT  -- some of the links are broken but most work. Nice compilation of pad design ideas.

Pink Lemonade review. Review of the Pink Lemonade brand of pads.

AskPauline; This gal used metal snaps and didn't seem to have rust problems.

SewGreen :    Insertible Pad Design

Circle Design



and, finally, two youtube videos (there are more!) if you want to have some audio:






Selling Pad kits:

January In Canbyland

No winds, just frosty this morning.
I went out to re-fill the bird feeder and had to bring in both the hummingbird feeder and the bird feeder - I can't get the top off the bird feeder without possibly cracking the acrylic. Brought them both in to thaw.

My camellia.




Sunrise glow happening. Looking out towards runway through my Star Magnolia.
I'm actually facing North towards Portland.

Son climbing Mt. Hood this morning. Nearly to the summit. 11,239 feet up.


Autumn leaves resting atop my creeping wooly thyme


Still a couple of fall color Apple leaves on the tree.


An evergreen Azalea. I was given this shrub many many years ago.

It doesn't get too cold here in the Willamette valley. No snow accumulation at all. A good sunny day following this frost - possibly it will warm to the 40's today, enabling me to get out and take care of some winter clean-up.

Bluebird Of Happiness, aka TMI

How fast one loses the need to take a photo so I can blog about it mentality.

I have sewed a few things during the christmas craziness but they were all gifts, finished late at night when the photography options are bad and frankly, I gave myself permission not to worry about posting stuff.

And what do I choose to post about after a long absence? Menstrual pads.

I started using flannel 'rags' a few years ago. A customer of mine makes these in her shop on etsy.
I started getting rashes - me and my food sensitivites and chemical phobias - on the commercial panty liners. I figured it was just a matter of time before the regular kotex pads also gave me problems. {{What do they use on commercial pads that would give you a rash?}}

Two summers ago, I planned a trip to Sweden & Europe and I knew I needed something else for a daily panty liner. When I am out all day in weird situations with unknown restroom places, I like to have a panty liner in place.  I tried Rachel's from her shop, Pleat, and I liked them.

They snap together around the crotch of your panty and the flannel keeps it from sliding. Rachel offers these in three different sizes.

You can vary the pad thickness by adding more layers of absorbent flannel.

They tend to last about a year with repeated washings. I had a bit of PUL fabric on hand (for waterproof diapers) and some flannel and decided this fall to make some more.

Because this fall, I took on a detail job in Portland that involved a stressful commute - basically being gone from my home 12 hours a day for an 8-hr job (hour lunch). The stress started me into peri-menapause in a very stressful way - the never-ending-period. Otherwise known as spotting.

All of a sudden I needed a daily pad that was thin like a panty liner but longer.
By the way, this is the only symptom I have to-date of peri-menapause.

The two pads underneath are somewhat worn. I tried not to gross you out with what the old pads really look like with the discreet covering of the new bluebird one.

Basically, the underneath portion has the wings with the snap and the center 'padded' portion is sewn on to that with all seams enclosed on both.
Don't you love the orange Aurifil thread on the bluebirds? This was the thread in my sewing machine. . . Not only TMI but you get a glimpse into my laziness.

I'm off to make some more right now while I wait for my plastic snaps and snap setter to appear in the mail.

Great British Sewing Bee Christmas Special

The Great British Sewing Bee Christmas Special.

Some really great gift ideas.

OSU Snow Day

Taildragger Christmas

I finished my last week of overtime at the day job and now just need to 'survive' Christmas!
I took a job transfer to the community where I live. Two of the benefits will be Less Hours and a Three-mile Commute.
I am ever hopeful this will stabilize my work hours (feast or famine), giving me more time for my other life.

And more sewing.
And more creative journeys.

Time for family and friends.

Time for taking care of my health needs.

I have lots of goals for this next year including a much needed formal business plan that involves my other life. I am excited to embrace the new year with some important decisions behind me.

Reindeer Cam:
This one is pretty cool. Watching the reindeer eat in preparation to their big night.



Also a video from Rovaniemi, Finland; This is where Santa really lives - contrary to most US citizens' belief in the North Pole.






An interview with Joulupukki (Santa Claus)
In Rovaniemi, Finland.

I've been here and I also had the wonderful opportunity to see the reindeer races!
I tried to go back when we were there last summer but couldn't figure out the logistics of being in two places at once! (lol)