I used my experience manufacturing pads for a menstrual accessibility non-profit to host a Pad-Making Party, aka a workshop on the textiles and process of creating washable, reusable menstrual pads.
A space and procuring equipment was the largest hurdle; thankfully my colleague at my non-profit allowed me to use a multi-purpose room on her property to host, and I was able to purchase the required materials at wholesale cost from the organization (as opposed to paying full retail and shipping on a small order). I brought my own machines and borrowed one from a community member who was attending as a helper. I advertise through my own and local “town” social media pages.
Ten participants came at staggered times, and we discussed the requirements for each layer of a reusable pad, the pro’s and con’s of varying textiles for each layer, what sorts of priorities one might have in creating reusable pads and different ways to accommodate those priorities. Then, using pre-cut pad pieces, each participant chose their style, size, materials, and construction method, and everyone made at least one pad to keep (most made 2). We even had a couple participants show interest in volunteering for the non-profit I usually sew for!
We had a moment of panic when both machines started skipping stitches, and a different volunteer managed to get them working properly again (love when community brings their skills together to troubleshoot!). We had mothers making them for themselves and their daughters, grandmothers making for their grand-daughters, and folks who were heart-set on “making one to take and one to donate.”
I wish that I had pre-made a manual so that participants with more sewing knowledge could have kept working instead of waiting for folks with less experience to “catch up” at each stage (working on this now, for future sewing events).
There was a lot of interest on the post I made on the “town” facebook, with many folks expressing interest in coming another day or commenting how important it was that I was bringing this issue to the public. I learned that local older people are desirous of more “Community” — multiple folks (often while commenting they didn’t need menstrual stuff themselves anymore) who couldn’t make it on the day have reached out to ask if I’m having any more “sewing bees” they could attend.
