[Verbena]

I went to the fabric store and puchased a few yards of 100% cotton flannel. A couple yards were of some really cute prints that I picked out - this would be the outside of the pad. The bulk of the flannel that I purchased was simple white diaper flannel - this would be in the inner absorbent layers. Finally a bought 2 yards of vinyl table-cloth material - this was the waterproof backing that would keep any moisture from the pads from leaking onto the floor underneath. Depending on the size of your dog, you will want to make the pee-pad bigger or smaller than the one that I made, which was 22"x22" and suitable for a small dog...mine is a Boston Terrier (you can use the dimentions of Pooch Pads or other disposible pads as a guide for the size of the ones that you wish to make). I then cut all of my fabric into the 22"x22" squares - I had the outer printed layer, 3 layers of diaper flannel, and the final layer of thin waterproof vinyl. I pinned these all together and then sewed it all up!

I found that 1 meter of printed flannel makes 4 22"x22" squares, that each pad this size will need approx 2 meters of diaper flannel for the 3 inner layers, and that you will need about 1 meter of vinyl tablecloth material for every 2 pads. Obviously if you are making larger or smaller pads you will need to adjust all these numbers. So for about $20-30 you will have enough fabric to make 4 small washable pee-pads. This should be more than sufficient for you!

You will need to pre-wash the pads before letting your dog use them, as the printed flannel only becomes really absorbent after it has been washed at least once and softened up. The printed flannel starts off kind of stiff from the inks. I don't recommend using fabric softener, as this decreases the absorbency as well.

* NOTE :Prewash all fabrics before cutting!!!