Free reusable sanitary towels sewing pattern!
Our colleague Janine is going to be flying to Kenya on April 5th to volunteer at a school, and you can get involved too in helping her cause.
Janine's youngest child, Sonny, was diagnosed with severe nonverbal autism and learning difficulties in January 2021. Sonny then started at a Specialist School for disabled children in September 2022. Janine and her family were instantly blown away by how incredible the staff were at the school.
Janine instantly formed a great bond with Sonny's teacher, Veryan. Every summer, Veryan spends time in Kenya volunteering for a charity called Melon Mission School. Sonny's speech therapist, Liz volunteers there too. Along with Melon Mission they also had set up an outreach project for children in Nakuru who are disabled or have additional needs. When hearing this, Janine jumped on the occasion to help them.
The children at the school have nothing. So the volunteers are each filling up two suitcase full of toys and sensory equipment and essentials to give to the kids.
With a quick and easy sew of making reusable sanitary towels, you can help the children tremendously. So, get sewing and send your makes to Sonny's teacher before March 20th at the following address:
Elizabeth Henderson, The Hawthornes, Bruton Road, Evercreech, Somerset BA4 6HY
Each sanitary towel sewn will make a difference!
If you're new to sewing, you might find it helpful to explore our tutorials for beginners. Check out our sewing for beginners and sewing kits for beginners guides.
How to make reusable sanitary towels
You will need
- Outer fabric (cotton/ jersey/ flannel or fleece)
- Bamboo 3D diamond Zorb (or towelling)
- ProSoft bamboo fleece with 1ml PUL (alternatively another layer of cotton/ jersey/ flannel/ fleece and a single layer of PUL)
- Snap fasteners: 2 per pad
- Snap fastener tool
- Matching thread
- Basic sewing kit
Notes
- Seam allowance is 1cm, unless otherwise stated.
- Download the templates here.
Suggested fabrics / Materials used
You need a fabric for the top and bottom and the inner pad layer/s. We used cotton for the tops and ProSoft bamboo fleece with PUL for the backings but you could use regular fleece and a separate leak-proof period-proof pad backing like PUL, TPU, or wool backing. Natural fibers are great for absorbency, like cotton, hemp, or bamboo for the inner pad. Towelling could work well and you can layer up 2 or 3 and sew together for extra absorbency. Some synthetics also absorb well and do resist stains a bit better. They can be less breathable though, so keep that in mind.
As for layers — if you need a thicker pad, use more layers. If you just want liners, use less.
You can buy specialist fabrics at Cuddle Plush Fabrics but this is also a great stash busting project if you have any of the above fabrics in your stash.
Cutting out
Step one
Print off the template twice or trace off the dotted line section onto a separate sheet of paper, this is the template for the inner pad. Cut one of the main pad template in your top fabric (cotton) and one in the Prosoft bamboo fleece with PUL. Cut the inner pad from bamboo 3D diamond Zorb. If you are using a separate PUL backing you will need to cut this out from the main template too. You can zig zag stitch or overlock around the inner pad to prevent fraying but it’s not essential.
Making the pad
Step 1
With the cotton top right side (RS) down, place the Zorb pad in the centre, pin in place and stitch around with a 0.5cm seam allowance. Turn over so the top fabric is RS up.
Step 2
Place the fleece backed PUL fleece side down on the cotton top so RS are together and the PUL backing is facing out. Clip in place (pins will create holes in the PUL which can increase leakage). Sew around the edge with a 1cm seam allowance and leave a 4cm gap in one of the wings to turn the pad through.
Step 3
Clip the corners, snip into the curves carefully making sure not to cut through your stitches. Trim back the seam allowance to 0.25cm except in the wing with the gap you turned through.
Step 4
Give the pad a good iron and turn the seam allowance at the open wing to the inside. Topstitch all the way around the pad with a 0.5cm seam allowance.
Adding snaps
Step 1
Mark the holes for the snap fasteners on each of the wings, centering it and measuring in approx 1.5cm from the outer edge(if you don't have snap on fasteners you can use sew on snaps or hook and loop tape).
Step 7
Apply the snaps according to the directions for your snap tool making sure that one popper faces up and the other faces down. These pads fold up nicely into a little parcel which is great for once they are used!
Don't forget to send your reusable sanitary towels before March 20th to:
Elizabeth Henderson, The Hawthornes, Bruton Road, Evercreech, Somerset BA4 6HY
