Well, it's once a month clothing.

Okay. Making my own pads has been on my to do list for years. It is finally at the top. I am doing some experiments so I have a question for those who may have made their own.
I am using PLU as the base layer. Should I cut it just a bit wider and pull it up the sides and just over the edge of the top of the "pad"? As a bit more of barrier to protect my clothing. Right now I'm piecing together the pad section. Top is a moisture wicking fabric, middle is cut from a cloth diaper, and PLU is one on the fabric covered baby pads. (I do tend to scavenge from existing things.)
After I hand stitch the edges, the top and middle layers will get edge stitching to create some "channels" to try to keep liquid where I would prefer for it to be. Then I was going to stitch on the PLU layer. By hand so I can keep from piercing the lower part and providing tiny holes for leaks.

I'm well past those days but IIRC there was a thread about this a long time ago, back around 2008 when the markets crashed IIRC, and SummerThyme had a lot to say about making the pads IIRC. Have you considered a Diva Cup?

I tried a search before I even started cutting but I didn't find much at all. Hence the question here.

I have used Diva cup in the past and am going to try again. Which is the reason I'm wanting to try some homemade pads to go with them. My flow is excessively heavy. Insanely heavy. So even a well fitted Diva cup needs backup if I'm going to be away from home for more than two hours or so.

I'm just trying to think through all the possible ways for leaks to go. And I took one of the most effective commercial pads as a base pattern with adaptations where it tends to allow leakage. I'm not making more than one or two of a design right now. Not until I can work through any quirks.

Bumping!

A friend and I have been making them for years. I end up using a cup and then pads when I am home. You don't need all of that PLU. I would only use it for bigger overnight pads when you feel like you need it. We turned them inside out and sewed them up leaving a bit open to turn them right side out. Then stitched up the hole. You can sew "lines" in the middle of the pad like rows 2 or 3 to make the liquid stay in the middle. I use flannel a lot instead of everything else now. I started out with the PLU and cloth diaper fabric, but changed to flannel and just used more layers if I needed it to be more absorbent. My daughter doesn't use a cup and she doesn't really have any issues with the all flannel pads. She does have the PLU on the overnight ones.

Thank you.
I may make some without the PLU. Only time will tell. Maybe for the tail end days when it's just drips. But basically, after giving birth to my son, my body decided that it would behave as if I am pregnant every month. Every single month. I can flood heavy duty overnight pads in less than 4 hours during the worst of it (which can be anywhere from 8 to 48 hours long) When I had insurance, Docs said nothing could be done. Now things can be done but I don't have insurance. Gotta love life sometimes.
So I'm erring on the side of caution for now. Besides, honestly, the PLU is going to be under several layers of cotton. And it can't cause me near the level of irritation that the commercial pads do. It really can't.
And I'm just using what I have on hand. Flannel isn't that common in our house. But a stack of old cloth diapers that somehow came my way, dry weave shirts that no longer fit my son, and some simple cotton from old shirts, that's all on hand. I can probably make enough to last me years from that pile once I decide on a final design.

I ended up hand stitching on the first design today. My online job was having server issues. So I needed to be near the computer to grab jobs when the server was working. But I was not going to sit there and twiddle my thumbs. And I didn't want to move the sewing machine. So hand stitching it was. It kind of helped balance the aggravation.

That will work! The friend of mine that got me started made them out of the left overs from some diapers she had made and we went from there. The only other suggestion I would make it once you sew the hole together..then sew all around the outside. It keeps everything where it is supposed to be and when you put the snaps on, it just looks better and keeps things neater. You will find what works for you as you try them out. Make a few...try and then tweak as you need to. There are a lot of patterns online as well.