Reusable nursing pads

Earlier this week a friend mentioned to me that I should try making some reusable nursing pads for the Naturally Crafty blog.  I will be honest, at the time I put this suggestion way at the bottom of my list.  It wasn't that I didn't want to make them, it was just that I had no use for them personally at the time and I have a very long list :).  My youngest is now 4 months old and my milk supply has regulated enough that I figure I wouldn't need any for a long, long time.  Well, the blog gods intervened because the very next day another friend was talking about ordering some reusable nursing pads!!!  Ding, ding, ding, a perfect opportunity to make some and actually have someone give me feedback on how well they worked, and now I can share it here.

Materials:
PUL
Soft Flannel or cotton material

Each nursing pad is one layer of PUL and three layers of flannel.  I washed all materials beforehand so that they would not shrink after being sewn.  I created a circle template out of paper that was approximately 4.5-5 inches in diameter (I went a little larger since my serger would cut off some of the outside).  I cut all of the  layers and then serged around the edges to sew them together.  If you do not have a serger you can also just zig zag or do an over lock stitch on your sewing machine.  Its as easy as that, they are ready to wear!
They took me approximately 15 minutes to make the two sets shown and I used scrap materials that I had on hand.  If you are buying material, you should be able to get 8-10 sets of nursing pads out of 1/4 yard of PUL and 3/4 yard of flannel.  All in all, this is a super easy project.

After a few days of wear I checked back in with my friend/guinea pig and got her assessment.  Some of the things she liked the best is that they are very comfortable and that they do no show through clothing.  Her husband was surprised that he didn't notice them when she was just wearing a sports bra!  She also said that they wash and dry nice and that they are plenty absorbent.

Washing and wearing instructions:
1. Pads should be warn with the flannel touching your skin and the PUL facing outwards.
2. Be sure to change pads as soon as they feel wet.
3. Once pads have been used, let air dry before placing in the hamper to prevent mildew.
4. Wash on delicate cycle with warm or cold water, dry on medium
5. Be sure to use detergent that does not contain fabric softeners so that absorbency is not compromised.