Apologies....And New Products

Firstly I would like to apologise for my absence over the last month or so, not sure where the time has gone to be honest, as well has being ill I have been making new pads and have also been making new items as well.

I have been making reusable breast pads:

Interlabial pads:

Pad wrappers:

and reusable wipes:

As well as making a new starter pad set which consists of a thong liner pad, a regular use pad, a heavy flow pad and a pad wrapper:

If you have any questions please do email me on 

Minky Topped Cloth Menstrual Pads

Who likes minky?  I love minky.....

So much so that I have made 6 new pads with a gorgeous soft dimpled minky top :)

These pads have a brushed cotton back with an absorbent core which consists of a layer of PUL and a layer of zorb.  They are so soft you won't believe how soft they are until you try them :)

Anyway, enough talking, here are some pictures :)

If you would like to purchase one of these please pop over to my shop on Etsy (www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Vampylady) or alternatively pop over to my Facebook page (www.facebook.com/FloCycle) and send me a message.

Apologies.....Preferences and Ideas

Firstly I would like to apologise to anyone following my blog for not posting much lately.  With one thing or another going on I have just been so busy and when I actually take a break and sit down, the last thing on my mind was writing a blog.  Holding down a full time job and a part time job as well as looking after 3 children (albeit 2 of them being 17), and taking time to make custom orders and trying to make pads to build up stock for summer fairs, I really don't know how I am still here - but I am :)

Ok, back to talking about cloth pads....what's your favourite absorbent core?  I always sew mine with either zorb or bamboo, do you prefer either of those, or do you prefer something else?

I am also going to try my hand at making a few small wet bags, perfect for putting in your handbag, however, need to get some more PUL before I can do that....plus I am slightly nervous as I have tried a couple of bags before and wasn't overly happy with results so will try a different pattern next time.

Also I am thinking about putting together a few starter packs, maybe a panty liner, 8 inch regular pad and a 10 inch heavy flow pad (and if I manage to get my head around wet bags maybe I can put a wet bag in the set too).  What are your thoughts on that?

This was my last attempt at a wet bag, which considering I had never sewn a zip into anything until I attempted wet bags I suppose it's not too bad :/

Right, best get on with getting youngest child sorted and ready for school and getting one of the twins out of bed to go to college (other twin has finished her course for this year), and getting myself ready for my full time job.

Busy busy busy!

Sorry for not posting for a while but I have been very busy with work and family life.

This evening I set myself the challenge of making 4 pads before going to bed as my stock pads are dwindling quickly.  I am wanting to make more stock pads as I am having a stall at my local Summer Fayre selling jewellery which I make and would love to display some pads too - although I don't think many will be sold but if it means getting the word out I am happy :)

Anyway here are the 4 pads I have made this evening, if you want more info please check out my Etsy shop www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Vampylady 

New Shape Pad Pattern

Last night I decided to create a new pattern for a new shaped pad.  I wanted something that is curved as I like curved pads and I wanted something that is flared at the front and the back and where the back is bigger than the front so I decided to draw up a pattern for myself.  When I was happy I made a prototype and I was very happy with it.  What do you all think????

Been very busy with orders....

Over the last week i have been very busy making bespoke orders as well as making more pads for etsy (www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Vampylady) and ebay (www.ebay.co.uk/usr/lousid_max).  have also made a pattern to make some pads suitable for when wearing a thong and another pattern for a very heavy flow night time pad which could also be used as a postpartum pad.  All this and still managing to keep down a full time job and be a full time mum!!

I have made another Tinkerbell pad which I absolutely adore, and still not 100% convinced that I will sell it ;)

Anyway, here are a few of the pads I have made over the last few days.

Panty Liners - What Size Suits You?

Today I received a question on Etsy about panty liner size.  Basically my standard size panty liners are 8 inches long but I was asked if I coukd make some to order which were only 6 inches long, which of course is not a problem but got me thinking what size most people prefer...email answers would be good please to lfsnell@gmail.com.

Anyway, I made 3 to order at 6 inches long - here they are (apologies for not very good photos but they were taken on my phone in terrible light):

These are made with brushed cotton top and bottom with one layer of bamboo fleece in the middle.

New pads with minky top

Made 4 new pads today all having brushed cotton backs with minky (cuddle tops).  Here is the first one:

Second:

Third:

Fourth:

I love the feel of the minky, it is so soft and am really loving the jungle animal print on the brushed cotton too.

If you would like to purchase any of my pads please visit my etsy shop www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Vampylady

New Logo

Finally got my new logo which my niece drew and painted for me and I love it!!!

She managed to come up with something that just seemed to relate to FloCycle pads....the stitching and what looks like stripy material, birds representing freedom and there is even my favourite colour on the birds!!! What more could I ask for.

If anyone would like any illustrating done, some pictures drawn for children or a logo for your business just let me know and I can pass your details on or alternatively you can email Tara at blacksheepart1991@gmail.com.

Anyway, without anymore rambling on here is my logo - what do you think????

New Pads Made Today - And New Logo Design

Today I have made a couple more pads.  These pads are 9.5 inches long and both have a pink leopard print microfleece backing with brushed cotton tops and an absorbant core of zorb with a layer of PUL.

This is the first pad showing the backing:

And the top:

And this is what it looks like when it's folded:

And here is the second pad (back first):

And the top:

And here it is folded up:

I think I have made about 9 or 10 pads this weekend with it being a long weekend off work for Easter so I expect I won't be able to make any more until the weekend now as I am back to work tomorrow.

The other bit of news is that I have my niece designing me a logo for my pads but she is being very cagey at the moment about the design but she did send me 4 pictures of the text she had come up with and this is the one I liked best, so I can give you a sneak preview but you now know as much as i do about my logo - as soon as she lets me have it I will show it off to the world!!!

Signing off now :)

My Most Favourite Reusable Menstrual Pad To Date

As some of you will know I have a passion for all things Goth :) Well yesterday I made a new menstrual pad that a I love, and ICAN honestly say if this one does not sell I will not be unhappy to keep it ;)

When I spotted this fabric all I knew is that I must get it as I found it completely gorgeous!!

Anyway here are a few pictures of said pad.

Here is the top view of the pad which is made from cotton and the absorbent part is made from zorb and it has a waterproof layer of PUL.

Here is a picture of the back of the pad which again is made from cotton.

Last but not least here is a picture showing the pad folded up.

FloCycle Pads - A New Adventure!

FloCycle Pads is my new adventure.  Last year I discovered the world of Reusable Menstrual Pads (RUMPS) and was fascinated by the idea of them, but due to my very, very heavy and very painful periods I didn't think I would be able to use them at that stage in my life so put it to the back of my head.  At the time I was using a menstrual cup which was helping me to keep a record of how much blood I was losing as I was convinced it was a lot more than average and this was the only way I could record this info and deliver it to my doctor to help me get the help I needed with my periods.

Anyway, long story cut short, last September I was offered a cancellation operation which I jumped at and this resulted in me now having very very light periods with hardly any of the painful cramps that I had suffered with in the past.  Not only was I delighted with this but I now had the chance to use RUMPS instead of those horrible crinkly smelly disposable pads that end up in landfill and cost a fortune over the years.

Early January I started researching RUMPS more and discovered lots more about them but being short of cash I then looked at fabrics used to make them and patterns and tutorials on how to make them and figured I could try to make my own. The first couple I made were not too bad but as my school report used to say "can do better", and as the saying goes "practice makes perfect" and the more I made the better they looked.

After a whole I found a few groups on Facebook which I joined and they were great as I had advice at my fingertips and soon my pads were looking good, as far as I was concerned, so I plucked up some courage and posted a couple of pictures to the groups and was amazed at the kind comments I received about them and this spurred me on to make more as well as building my stash up.  All my pads at this stage were made from scrap material which I had begged for from friends and relatives, but after posting the pictures I had received messages from people asking if I was selling any of my pads.  I didn't think anyone would be interested in my pads like that - I guess I didn't believe they were good enough to sell, but now my confidence had built and I started looking into buying fabric to make some pads with the intention of selling them.

By the beginning if April I had purchased a few different fabrics and had made a few pads which I posted on Facebook and Etsy and was shocked at how quickly they were snapped up, and the feedback I received made me feel really good.  Not only was I making something I felt very strongly about but I was also able to sell them to people who also felt very strongly about using products which lessened the amount of rubbish going to landfill.

Following the early sales of my pads I decided to make more and come up with a name for my pads, and thanks to lots of friends and their ideas we came up with FloCycle Pads.  I made more pads and put them on my etsy shop www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Vampylady and created my Facebook Page www.facebook.com/FloCycle and FloCycle Pads was born.