For the second item to make using my overlocker, perhaps circles was a little bit adventurous!
Add to that two of the materials that lots of people avoid sewing with even on a normal machine because of their ‘slide all over the place-ness’, minky and PUL, and it’s not surprising that it wasn’t smooth sailing from the start!
I did ask some friends with overlockers if they had any tips for sewing curves. The words “with difficulty”, “carefully” and “slowly” were the best advice they could offer.
But after a few false starts – four to be precise that ended up in the bin – I can say ta-da! I’ve done it. A pile of overlocked circle-ness:
Even more impressive, I had to rethread the machine twice when two of the threads/cones/bobbins/whatever you call the bits on the top ran out at different points! *pats self on back* I think the overlocker and I have now reached an understanding and made friends 🙂
But what are they? They are nursing pads – washable ones, like you can buy from somewhere like Mothercare, but homemade. They have three layers: a minky top layer which is soft and has the ability to wick moisture away from the skin; a bamboo fleece middle layer to give them absorbancy; and a PUL back layer to make them waterproof.
They’re not the kind of thing that’s going to be on show, so although the first few that didn’t end up in the bin weren’t perfect they’ll still do the job. Some of the first ones weren’t quite circular while I figured out how to start and finish off on a curve …
 …by the end they were looking pretty good!
 I looked at listings for washable nursing pads online and measured some disposable ones to work out the right size, and drew myself a template on cardboard to cut out all the pieces by drawing around an ikea children’s bowl which happened to be exactly the right size.
I used up lots of small pieces of minky I had to make pairs. They didn’t need to be pretty prints – the patterned side faces the skin so nobody else would ever see it – but I like pretty things, and it made sense to use up what I had instead of buying something plain just to make them.
So I have squares …
 … and strawberries …
 … and even cow print!
A whole pile of pretty circles, and one less thing to add to the shopping list 🙂