Days for Girls is a charity based out of Bellingham, Washington, in which volunteers sew up components to the official feminine hygiene kits that are distributed around the world. These kits last up to three years and help keep a girl in school on days she has her period rather than being forced to miss out on her education by staying home to deal with it.

Each kit contains two shields (the holder for the absorbent liners that snaps around the panties), eight tri-fold liners that can be stacked for heavier days, two pairs of panties, two gallon-sized Ziploc bags for washing everything, a small towel, a bar of unwrapped hotel-sized soap, and a card explaining how to use the kit (no words - useable in any language). Everything is folded nicely and put into a colourful cloth bag before being handed out. Everything is donated, and the shields, liners, and bags are hand-made by volunteers.

I first found Days for Girls when I did a Google search a few years ago in an attempt to put my sewing "skills" to work for something good. It immediately struck a chord with me. I've been lucky enough to be raised in a place where feminine issues never kept me from attending school, but I know there are so many in this world who are not so fortunate. Knowledge is power, and according to the Days for Girls website, the cycle of poverty can be broken in just one generation if only these girls were given the chance at education.

And so it is that I have dedicated time and resources in an effort to help my sisters in Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and even here in Canada. I would love to be able to make all components of the kit, but alas the bag must be serged and the liners are much stronger if they are too, and I'm scared to death of my serger. Someday I will play around with it and get the tension just right, but until then I am working on the shields, which just require regular sewing.

My frist batch of shields were drop dead gorgeous. I made about 40 of them, and they were colourful and vibrant and I was so proud of them! And then I went to a Days for Girls monthly workshop. I discovered that not only was the pattern MUCH more finicky than I had thought - they take those 1/4" and 1/8" seams incredibly seriously with absolutely zero room for error - but my beautiful colours were all wrong too! They were much too light and wouldn't do a good job of hiding stains, one of the key quality points to a proper shield. I was so sad the day I realized I'd have to throw them all away. So much work and nothing to show for it.

So what does one do in that situation? Start over of course! There are girls around the world relying on this stuff! You can't quit just because of a setback! And so that's what I did! My next batch of about 40 came out much better. The sizing was correct thanks to some tips I picked up at the workshop, and though they weren't nearly as colourful, they were still pretty. In the end I turned in 36 of the batch because my own quality inspection discovered a few in which the PUL had been sewn in upside down or the seams pushed in just a tad too far. But hey, 36 still isn't bad, and I was able to add about 16 hours to their effort of tracking time spent on this stuff.

As I begin my third batch of shields, I thought it would be a good opportunity to work on my blog a little. This particular project has a lot of text, I know, and if you're reading this right now I very much appreciate the time you took to get this far. But it's worth spending time on this charity because of the incredible impact it can have on the life of a girl or woman somewhere out there. So let's begin on how exactly to construct a shield!

First, you need a pattern. These can be downloaded for free on the Days for Girls website once you sign up. The pattern consists of two pieces: the t-shaped shield itself and the square pockets. I traced mine onto sturdy cardstock for a more accurate cut and reuseability.

Now, fabric choice is very important here so listen up! Shields are constructed using 100% quilting cotton that has been washed and dried on high to force as much shrinkage as possible, with one layer of polyurethane laminate (PUL), which can be any colour because it is hidden on the inside of the shield. Due to cultural taboos and laws in various countries, some fabric prints are off-limits. These include camouflage, faces of anykind (even on animals), all insects with the exception of butterflies, most animals, logos, and girly-glam. In general you want to pick something geometric in design, like batiks.

Colour is just as important as pattern. While we want the shields to be pretty for the girls, they must also do a good job hiding stains, hence why my beautiful yellows and blues didn't work out so nicely in my first batch. What you're looking for is medium to dark coloured prints (not solids); here you can see some of the choices I've made. I'm a bit nervous about the bright pink with flowers because it contains so much white and light colours, but I think there is enough pink to make it work. I absolutely love the cherry print, and the black with gold isn't bad either.

Thread must be the same colour or darker than the fabric, and 100% polyester.

The colours are purposely mismatched because one person will make the shield, while another will make the liners, and yet another the bag. Nothing will match, so it's best and actually required that individual pieces also be pieced together. Plus it adds colour and character!

Next let's actually make the thing! You'll need 2 pocket squares, 1 piece of PUL, and a top and bottom piece.

To begin, fold 2 pocket squares in half widthwise and press nice and flat.

Sew 1/4" from the pressed edge all the way across. This strengthens the part that the liners will be shoved under, helping with its durability.

The "shield sandwich" is next, and it's very important to get this right or it won't be as effective in preventing leaks. Place on the table your layer of PUL shiny side up (I forgot to mention that the corners of the PUL should be trimmed on the long edges to avoid bulk), then the top piece of the shield face up, followed by the pockets on each long side with the stitches pointed inward. Before you lay the bottom layer of the shield on the sandwich face down, mark it somehow, either with a small basting stitch through it or a safety pin in the middle (with the pin on the right side).

Do NOT pin thing thing. Any puncture in the waterproof PUL layer will reduce its effectiveness. Instead, either pinch it in your fingers or use quilting clips like I do! One on each side is more than enough to get the job done.

Days for Girls recently (in or around March 2017 I believe) changed their shield pattern slightly by widening it a little so the seam placement isn't as critical as it used to be, but I still use the old pattern so I have to be VERY careful not to exceed the 1/4" allowance. Once the shield sandwich is all stacked up, sew in that 1/4" allowance around all the edges except the very top. You may round or square the edges. I square them.

Trim the seams as close as comfortably and rationally possible, about to 1/8".

Turn that sucker inside out and push the corners out to be as square as possible if you chose to go that route. The sewn bottom pocket should be facing the side without the pin/basting, while the other should be on the pin/basting side.

With your iron on the wool setting, iron as neatly as you possibly can. It's no secret that professional-looking items of any sort are made or lost on the ironing board.

After pressing, sew the open pocket edge in a 1/4" seam and clip the corners to reduce bulk when you turn it.

Turn and press.

Now for my favourite part! Once it's pressed as flat and nicely as you can get it, it is time to top stitch! While the 1/4" seam was super important, the topstitching seam will decide whether the shield will be useable or not. I have found with the old pattern that the 1/8" they instruct you to use is WAYYY too thick. Along the pockets where it really matters, I try my best to do it right on the edge without actually being in the ditch, so about 1/16" or so.

The important thing to remember when topstitching is to backstitch at all pocket edges for durability. Without these, the shield is lost.

The last thing to do to finish up your shield is to add the KAM Snaps. These are size 20 snaps of any colour, but they must be the KAM Snap brand as other brands have been either untested or found to not hold up as long with repeated use.

To apply the snaps, you need two studs, one male piece, one female piece, the snap pliers, and a sharp poking object such as an awl.

Make your first poke with the awl 1/2" from the edge of the shield wing (not from the topstitching mark) and insert the stud through the back. Place the male snap piece on the prong, with the round sticky-outy part facing the top. The bumps on the back should be pressed into the fabric. Using the pliers, squish the prong. There ya go, snap placed! Poke another hole on the other wing, and place the stud cap on the FRONT this time, facing the opposite direction of the other one. The female piece goes over the prong with the bumps being pressed into the fabric, same as the male piece. Squish it and you're done!

Super important before you declare yourself completely finished with the shield is to snap and unsnap it three times. This ensures that not only are your snaps on in the correct direction, but that they are on nice and strong and will hold up.

Now repeat this process as many times as you can, and turn them in so they can be sent off to girls in need around the world! Just be sure to track your time spent sewing because this is important to them for tax purposes. Oh, and if you don't have KAM snaps or a pair of pliers handy, you can always turn them in sans the snaps and the organization will put them on for ya!