That thing we should talk about but don't.

I'm doing some sewing again today.  That's because it took me hours to cut out the project into all its small component parts and it took forever to put all the pieces into their proper order.   The sewing is about as simple as I have ever done but it uses up a lot of thread.  It's all zig zag but for the closures and it seemed to suck up thread like there was no tomorrow.  I'm going to use up some of this.

All those pretty colours from old projects are perfect for this project.  What am I sewing you may ask? Well, if you are of tender years avert your eyes, though, really, you shouldn't. Move along if you are squeamish, though you really shouldn't be.  Long ago when we lived in communities with grandmothers in the same homes, we would have known of these kinds of things without needing to talk about them.  But we should be talking about them, so that none of us has to feel this is all so undignified.  It's life.  Get over it.  I am sewing some incontinence pads. 

I have to start at the beginning.  I had three kids.  I had a hysterectomy.  I am 60.  All these things combine to mean that my bladder is not supported any more by the tendons, structures and muscles that support it when you are younger, have not had kids, have not had that surgery.  Occasionally, I leak.  One third of all women will in some measure or other.  Many men will have the same problem as they age.  It isn't uncommon.  For years it was a mere irritant and was handled well by the average pad from the woman's products aisle.  Several years ago, I switched to specialty products. 

In the specialty product aisle the choices are few.  One brand causes me to itch.  Just imagine that for a while.  Yeah.  The product I preferred is very, very hard to find on store shelves in the proper length and  absorbency.  The newest product on the market is also a very occasional find.  You can find liners, that are not sufficient in my case and the other end of the scale, full on briefs and adult diapers. The supply of goods is even worse now that I am in  smaller center.  

More and more, the makers of the product are advertising full panty products and not a lot else. These seem to be available all over, but they are expensive and only available in small packages.  You could take out the cost of new panty's from your budget.  You wouldn't be needing those, but the throw away undergarments would costs thousands of dollars per year and because good quality undergarments don't need replacing daily or more often, you only get that small discount once.  Thousands of dollars.

I got cranky.  I get cranky about a lot of things where we are being sold something that manufacturers have decided we need.  You have white teeth?  Ever cared before dentists and ads told you your teeth weren't white?  No.  You cared that they were clean.  You did not invent the idea that teeth should be perfectly white, they did.  I got cranky about manufacturers who have decided I ought to spend big bucks that I don't have on a product I will toss out a couple times a day.  

As my grandchildren were coming into the world, I started thinking about cloth diapering in the modern way, with the sweet little diaper covers in waterproof fabric.  I was talking to a lady I know about her grandmother and problems with incontinence and I started wondering about adult incontinence products.  Some research on the internet led me to very large and active community using cloth pads for their monthly flow which led me to some great videos by a lady named Amy Nix, who actually addresses the issue and for which I am very grateful.  

See?  Done with simplicity and intelligence and dignity and done well.  If you are my age and younger, we are so used to the throw away product that too often we don't think about what women, people did before.  If you are like me, you have to be hit hard in the head, or the pocket book before you even dream that there might be another way to do these things.  But I was (hit hard in the head) and with encouragement from some pretty great people out there in the world (they know who they are),  I have become part of that community.

I purchased my goods from Diaper Sewing Supply in the spring and made some prototypes but my vacation put the project on hold for a while. When I got home from vacation, I got myself kitted out but found that life would be easier if I had a few more.  If you are using the pads for a few days a month, you need fewer than if you are using them every single day.  Life was becoming about the regularity of laundry, so this week, I am sewing more.  

I did look at Canadian suppliers for PLU fabric, and for wicking material.  There is a very good diaper supplier out of Quebec, Agrumette  that sells diapers and other things ready made, but also sells the supplies.  I will link direct because it is a bit hard to find the supplies on their site.  Fabricland has some but has only the most simple of  wicking supplies in their baby area.  I was really disappointed by that, but c'est la vie.  

If anyone has any questions about anything I have talked about today, please do not hesitate to contact me at canadian needles (one word) at yahoo dot canada (the short form) and I would be happy to assist if you see me out and about in the world.  

Switching over to this has been life changing and what makes me infinitely happier, has freed my limited income.   My savings will cheerfully be diverted to yarn.