Category Archives: Make It

Making Period Pants

As I mentioned in my YouTube video about making underwear, one of the reasons I wanted to have a go at making underwear, and pants in particular, was to make some period pants – it seemed like this is a rare instance when making something could be cheaper than buying it!

Sophie Hines has some great tutorials on her website to help you know what supplies you need and how to alter your favourite pattern to be period pant friendly.

The main change you’ll want to do is to lengthen the gusset so you get better coverage than a standard gusset. I guess if you have some really light days you might be able to use a standard sized gusset for some pairs. I made 5 pairs in total, all with the lengthened gusset so I’d have flexibility for when in my period I choose to use them. I also bought a menstrual cup to have a fully sustainable period and I’ve been using that on the first couple of heaviest days, then the pants when it’s lighter towards the end.

You’ll also need to change the front and back pattern pieces by an equivalent amount to take account of the new longer gusset. I added around 6cm to the back and 5cm to the front of the gusset, then reshaped the other pieces accordingly. I made the size 2 of Megan Nielsen Acacia Pants, which is a free pattern and goes up to a 48″ waist and a 58″ hip. I already added around 4cm to the rise as I like my pants to sit a little higher than the pattern is drafted for.

The next thing you need to do is collect your supplies. This was the part I was most anxious about as I didn’t want to order the wrong things and discover at an inopportune moment that the pants didn’t function as I wanted them to. Muna and Broad also have a lot of good information about the kinds of supplies you need, which helped me a lot. Basically you need 3 layers: a moisture-wicking fabric, an absorbent later and a waterproof layer. Bamboo jersey, which I used for my underwear is actually a great moisture-wicking option. For the absorbent layer I ordered Zorb, which is a popular fabric for resuable nappies and period pants alike. I ordered a metre and I definitely didn’t need that much – you could definitely get away with half a metre (or maybe even less) for 5 pairs.

For the waterproof layer I ordered PUL (ProSoft Waterproof) in black – again I ordered a metre, and again I didn’t need anywhere near that much! I ordered both fabrics, which I’ve also linked in their names, from Cuddle Plush Fabrics, which I had not heard of before but they have lots of niche performance fabrics, so it would definitely be worth a look if you’re after some high performance fabrics (and you’re in the UK). Looking at their website today, it looks like they now have some recycled fabrics now, which is pretty exciting! The waterproof fabric has a right side and a wrong side, btw, and should not be pinned – I used some of those handy clippy things.

And here is the finished article – they’re not the most glamourous thing, and they look kind of badly made flat on the table, but they look okay on. I did have some wider fold over elastic for some of the pairs (but I ran out before I could do them all), also from Cuddle Plush Fabrics, and it was definitely better for the leg seams as they end up quite bulky and trying to neatly enclose everything with narrow foe was rage-inducing to say the least!

Recovering my sewing chair

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Ages ago I decided to recover my chair I sit in to sew (for sometimes hours at a time, obvs). I filmed the process so you can now head over to youtube to watch it!

Christmas Bunting Tutorial (and template)

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A couple of years ago I made this Christmas bunting and have finally got around to blogging this tutorial so you can make some yourself. I went for the maybe slightly garish but traditional Christmas colours of green and red but I think it would look cute with gold or silver with red or green. Or all in the same colour!

I didn’t really write proper notes on how much fabric I used, but I would have thought half a metre of each colour would be enough and 3.1m of bias binding for the top.

You can download the background template and the Christmas tree pattern here. The text I used was stencil font in size 185pt but you can pick a font you especially like.

I cut out 18 red backgrounds and 16 in green – you need 2 pieces per triangle. I wrote out a plan of which letters I needed in which colours so that the colours were opposite to the backgrounds, making sure the Christmas trees were all on red – which worked out perfectly!

I stitched each letter on with a narrow zigzag stitch to minimise the fraying potential. You could, of course, use felt for your letters so then you could stitch them with a straight stitch.

The letters ended up looking a little hairy but from a distance I think they look fine!

For the Christmas trees, as well as zigzagging around the edge, I used some yellow thread from my stash to make it look like it had some tinsel on – without it it looked a bit bare and like…..just a tree, instead of a Christmas tree.

The background pieces have a 1cm seam allowance. Once you’ve sewn all your letters (and trees) onto a single layer of backing fabric, then place it right sides together with a matching backing piece and stitch around the 2 diagonal sides, but NOT THE TOP. Then trim the point, and turn it the right side out, pressing them so they lie flat. Then line them all up, in order, and stitch the bias binding on the top! And voila! A new Christmas decoration!

I know this Christmas is probably not going to be like it has been in previous years but I think making things feel festive at home is a small thing we can each do to try to celebrate however we can.

Do tag me on instagram if you use this tutorial – I’m @sewingmachinations.

Reusable Make Up Pads (finally)

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I’ve been meaning to make some reusable make up pads for aaaaages and kept procrastinating for some reason.

I started off my measuring one of my last disposable cotton wool pads to get a rough size, and decided to round up to 6cm for ease of measuring – instead of going for, like, 5.8cm!

I had been keeping this leftover sweat-shirting (from my CocoWawa crafts chestnut sweatshirt) specifically for making these pads because it’s fleece-lined and I figured that would be nice and soft on my face. I’ve read some other people’s posts about making these and it seemed like softness was key.

I also used some striped jersey scraps for the backs. It was necessarily deliberate that both fabrics I used for the back were stripey but it’s a happy accident as I think they look cute!

I decided to go for squares instead of circles because a) it would be less wasteful of fabric and b) it would be easier for overlocking as I don’t think I’m that dexterous to feed tiny circles through my overlocker.

I spent an evening in front of the TV tying off all of the overlocker ends and now they look all neat and nice! I did get a little carried away and made, like 60! But my thought process was the more I make, the less often I have to wash them. I think I need to make a bag to wash them inside but obviously it has to be loosely woven to allow them to actually get washed – but I don’t fancy having them floating un-tethered around the washing machine. Any suggestions?

I had this jar lying around (which I was using for porridge oats but I don’t really eat porridge any more) and it’s the perfect size for all of the pads. I have used them for a week or so since finishing them and I have to say I prefer them to the disposable versions. They’re actually softer than cotton wool, and my face feels just as cleansed. I haven’t been wearing much make-up recently (and don’t generally wear loads) but I did have eye-liner and mascara on one day and there was no problem removing it all.

I’m sooo glad I finally got around to making these – I felt bad every time I threw one of the cotton wool ones in the bin! What are your favourite sustainable things (homemade or not) which have reduced your impact on the planet?

Make It: Pin Pennant

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After I was lucky enough to win a voucher for The Pink Coat club in the raffle at the Sewcialite Soiree, I realised I had quite a few pins in my collection. But I often forget to wear one as I had been keeping them in a little box next to my make-up bag. Since I know how to sew (duh!) I thought I could easily make something that would look nice, display all my lovely pins and remind me to wear them!

I started off with some of my beloved mustard denim (originally from Sew Me Sunshine and featured in such projects as my Cleo Pinafore and my mute bags) and drew a line 20cm long, plus 1cm each side for seam allowance. I then measured the centre of this line and measured 20cm away from this line and joined this point to the 2 sides of the line to make a triangle. I totally made up these measurements and I think if you have more pins than me you will almost certainly want to increase these measurements.

I cut out 2 triangles with the above measurements and stitched them right sides together along the 2 long lines, leaving the top edge unstitched to be able to turn it the right way around. I trimmed the seam allowances, especially at the points, turned it the right way around and top stitched the sewn seams, though I would wait to top-stitch until you’re sewing the top edge shut.

I then made 2 straps, measuring 12cm x 5.5cm. I stitched each one folded in half length ways, then turned them the right way around – this took ages as they ended up so thin!

I then arranged the straps with the seams down the middle of the ‘back’ and top-stitched them. Lastly I placed the straps into the opening at the top, turning in the seam allowance of the top edge of the triangle, and top-stitched the straps in place, stitching the open edge closed at the same time. I would also carry on with the top-stitching around the other 2 sides at this point.

This was such an easy project – it took about an hour from beginning to end. I found an old knitting needle in a local charity shop and tied some wool on to hang up the pennant and VOILA! I’ve got a lovely way of displaying my gorgeous pins!