A few new pads sewn in a different way.

I have been missing using my stash of quilters cottons, so I decided to sew up a few pads in quilters cottons and bamboo in a turned and top stitch style. With this method of sewing there is no chance of fray at the edges of the pad (which can happen with some quilters cottons when sewn with an overlocker). The wing shape is altered as this is much easier to turn the pad on the length of the wing ~ a good tip if you wish to try sewing your own :)

Kawaii Fairytale (back) 26cm

Front, Bamboo Velour

Liner stocking news flash!

Stocking of the store has been slow recently as it has been birthday season at our house. I have just restocked the bamboo beautiful 3 pack liners and the red hemp Geisha liners. Next job on the to do list is the Little Black Liners!

Bamboo Beautiful Liners ~ 3 pack

Do you have a liner or pad that is always on the top of your stash for wear? This is my go to liner. A simple flannel liner made entirely from bamboo flannel and bamboo fleece. You will notice these feature as my profile pic for the Clothcycle facebook page... as this set is a signature item of Clothcycle pads. Find these at www.clothcycle.com.au and The Cloth Pad Shop

Red Geisha Liners

Have you tried my hemp liners? These are super cute and extremely comfortable. x5 available across the stores.











Our second to youngest daughter started school this year. She has taken to school like a duck to water and made friends very quickly, so this is great. Still one left at home, I was worried that she would feel the draught of her big sister not being there but, no, she has not asked for her at all! I think she is enjoying the time alone with Mum ;)

Hope your 2015 has started off well too! 

Happy Holidays

I have been concentrating on building a new website these last couple of months. It has been a BIG learning curve getting to grips with how to display all the content I wish to display and to actually get it in the right places! I am not an IT expert, and my tech support have been very aware of this!
Bless their patient souls. The main benefits you will find is that it will be easier to navigate on mobile and a little more streamlined overall. If you do notice any hiccups, please do let me know.

You will have to excuse me while we change in front of you. If you have tried to visit www.clothcycle.com.au in the last couple of days, the site will be displaying an oopsey page. It is all not quite ironed out yet, hopefully it will be displaying the brand spanking new website in the next couple days. In the meantime if you do wish to visit the site it is available via this link:
Clothcycle Site and also I continue to offer stock at the Cloth Pad Shop

As I reflect on the past year I realise that the focus of my work is turning to using materials which I love working with. When I first started making pads I concentrated on providing a wide variety of fabrics based on what customers were requesting. I have realised with time that I can not please all customers as there is such a diverse personal preference in pads. I am naturally choosing fabrics which suit the style of pads that I make. Again it is also about offering pads which I think are made from quality fabrics offering comfort and superior absorbency overall. As a bonus I am finding much pleasure in creating hand dyed velours.

Thanks to Tamsin for encouraging me in this creative venture :) 

There have been some new additions to the site and I have also restocked the bamboo beautiful trio set. Here are some of the new pads.

 

There are only a few Eco Femme Pantyliner 3 packs left in stock in the 2 stores - but don't worry there will be another shipment arriving soon!

The Cloth Pad Shop will be closed in the beginning week of Jan 15. www.clothcycle.com.au will be open during this time with shipment of orders delayed to the week of the 12th Jan 15.

Wishing you a very Merry and Blessed Christmas

Welcome to Australia Eco Femme!

Eco Femme is a women's empowerment project which has risen from rural India and is reaching the world via the Auroville Village Action Group and the Gift a Pad Program. Kathy Walking is the Co-founder of Ecofemme-org which formed in 2009.

Kathy discovered cloth pads while visiting family in Australia. She found them more comfortable to wear and also this was so much easier than having to find a place to bury disposable pads. 

The use of disposable hygiene products is a considerable waste management issue. Provision of access to appropriate and affordable sanitary hygiene products is at the forefront of Eco Femme's work. Eco Femme is determined to counter the current trend towards disposable use in India. Currently 12% of the menstruating population in India uses disposable products. This percentage is likely to grow as multi-nationals recognize India as the largest growing market for these products and are marketing them across the country as the modern convenient solution.

"If every woman of reproductive age in India started to use disposable sanitary napkins, it is estimated that waste from 59 billion pads would be generated each year!"¹

During her life time one woman will consume ~125-150kg of sanitary products. To gauge some idea of quantities, in South Australia alone 1200-1700 tonnes of feminine hygiene waste is disposed into landfills in a single year². Disposable feminine waste is plastic laden and takes 500-800 years to degrade³.

Social Enterprise

Eco femme work in partnership with Auroville Village Action Group (AVAG); a non-governmental organization that focuses on community development. AVAG works with and trains women Self Help Groups www.villageaction.org. 24 women have been fully trained in stitching and then further trained to form their own independent enterprise. Eco Femme currently provides the equivalent of 7 full time jobs. Participants are paid fair wages on a piece by piece basis. The Eco Femme Project is a social enterprise which follows fair trade principles with its employees and tailors.

Gift a Pad Program

Gift a Pad Program Kit

Each cloth pad purchased by the International community provides a pad for a young woman in India. This initiative is targeted at adolescents of age 10-19 from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Donations are gifted as a 4 pad set during and in addition to an education program. The seminar topics cover menstrual and reproductive health, and information about the proper use and care of cloth pads. 

The Eco Femme Range

Eco Femme pads are made from cotton flannel and have unbleached cotton flannel cores. All pads are PUL lined (hidden) for leak protection, excepting non-PUL pantyliners. The range includes:

• Pantyliners (3 pack), available with PUL lining or non PUL
• Day Pad
• Day Pad Plus
• Night Pads
• Travel Packs
• Make your own stitching kits (3 pack)

Eco Femme Pads are now available for purchase here

Click the video link to learn more about Eco Femme

References:
1. http://www.indiantextilejournal.com/articles/FAdetails.asp?id=1567
2. www.zerowaste.sa.gov.au
3. http://recycling.about.com/od/Resources/fl/How-Long-Does-It-Take-Garbage-to-Decompose.htm

How to choose the right cloth pad for You

First things first - ***Congratulations*** on considering and making the switch to cloth pads! You have joined a growing number of women who find using reusables a better choice.

When you are first starting out using cloth pads it can be very confusing with the many choices out there. How do you make the right choice for you? Unfortunately the answer is there is no right choice as cloth pads are like clothing, there is not a one size fits all. Some like a favourite "brand" of cloth pads and others like to have a large variety of pads from different sellers. There are a few steps you can take in helping you choose when you are first starting out:

• Read reviews; reading reviews that have been left on the sellers site is helpful. Reviews that are written on blogs can also be informative, but please bear in mind that the blogger has often received a free or heavily discounted product, not always - but more often than not.
• Consider your budget, it is not desirable to buy an instant stash of pads - as if you find they are not what you were hoping for you have wasted your money, even if you received a bulk order discount.
• Start slowly, buying one or two pads from sellers you are interested in before committing to a large order. Wear the pads for one or two cycles to see if the fit and feel is right for you before purchasing more.
• Measure the width of your underwear and look for pads that approximate this in closed width. Typical preferred widths are anywhere between 6.5cm to 8cm, or 2.5-3.0", most wider widths tend to be on longer, or heavy flow pads. If the seller does not list the closed width of the pad, ask them what their pads closed width is. The closed width is the area in black as shown: