I thought they'd get better, but I just didn't expect them to improve so drastically with just the first month! 

I did it! I spent an afternoon making up about 5 pads from cotton fabric that I had on hand and sewed buttons and hand made buttonholes on the wings. I took an old towel and cut out long ovals slightly smaller than the outer part of the pad was. Some of these I stitched around with a zig zag stitch and also made lines down the middles to see if it helped. Everything I used was already on hand, so these were free except for a few hours of my time. I did use an overnight pad to trace a pattern, in order to make sure that there was plenty of coverage front to back.

Results...No leaks whatsoever! Easy to wash up. I just soaked the soiled pads and liners (pulling them apart) in an old plastic ice cream tub in cold water for a few hours, then swished and wrung out. Very easy and not icky at all. Little to no smell from using the cloth pads, in fact it was much preferable to using disposables. And I usually have at least one heavy day, but this week there was none of that, which I hope is from not having any chemicals in my pads because I want a period like this every month! I slept wonderfully with a cloth pad and 2 liners inside (for added protection, but it never went much into the second liner, if any), although I did lay an old towel on the bed just in case but never needed it. These cloth pads feel like there's nothing there except my undies and I love how easy they were to make and use! Sold on them for sure!  

I stumbled across this thread while wandering craftster and am thoroughly impressed by all the helpful advice. Until 2 days ago, I'd never heard of cloth pads, but I've read through all the posts in this thread (thus the 2 days lol) and am going to try to make some of my own. I've got just a few days until my period starts but I'm not opposed at all to washing out the pads, and am thrilled at the thought of less/no leakage AND not spending $10-15 a month on overnight pads. Thanks to all for sharing any and all information! 

Scarves From the Heart is a good one. You can send them your scarves and they'll give them to people who are getting chemo treatments for cancer.

It's definitely a different feel for yarn. That's why I didn't buy any after checking it out at my local yarn shop. But maybe you can try using it with a strand of a softer yarn possibly white, black, or cream?

This is so pretty! I especially love the bright color. Makes it cheerier to wear on cold days.

What a cool idea!

Try asking at any art stores, because they might give you items, even stuff that might ordinarily get thrown out they could save for you. You can also try your local chapter of freecycle (look it up on freecycle.org). I've given a ton of old craft stuff to a lady who used it for a nursing home program.

It might just be easier to do a plain double crochet stitch and make a rectangle. Or you could double-crochet in one stitch, chain one, and skip one space, double crochet in next space...this would make sort of a mesh look. Depends on how warm you need it to be. Just chain the number of stitches you want the shawl to be (hold up your chain and see how long it will be from one arm to the other, then add a few more stitches to allow for a little shrinkage when you start the double-crochet). Then do as many rows as you like of either plain ole double crochet or the alternating double crochet/chain one pattern I put above.

Looks a lot like a shirtdress with cap sleeves and just made longer with insert at neck in front. Maybe you could improvise with a shirt pattern?