I make my own for leaking bladder with flannel and old washcloths or towels. I originally made a pattern by a bought mini pad and have over the years enlarged it some to be more comfortable. I sandwich 1 or 2 layers of terrycloth(depending on the thickness of it) between layers of flannel and zig zag aroung the edges a couple of times. You can either cut them out before sewing or sew first then cut them out around the edges of each pad. If I do that, I only stitch around it once then after cutting, zig zag around it a second time. They ravel some when washed, but I trim the strings off and eventually they quit raveling. I much prefer them to the bought ones because of cost and comfort. You might search "homemade menstrual pads" and come up with a pattern or some other ideas. I don't know if they would work for periods, but can't imagine why not. When I needed thicker ones, I just sewed a smaller one onto a larger one and made it twice as thick. I is easier to do that way than trying to zig zag around many layers at a time.