swimming poofy

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purplemb
purplemb Member Posts: 1,542
edited June 2020 in Living Without Reconstruction After a Mastectomy
swimming poofy
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  • purplemb
    purplemb Member Posts: 1,542
    edited May 2008

    this is what I make for swimming

    cut rope, unroll tube.. wrap & roll. twist knot.. and stitch the back ..sew directly into suit...no air pockets...

    I actually buy th 94cent ones at WalMart, they are very soft... one poofy = A cup.... I carefully cut the string holding it together... then unwrap..it is a big tube.... now..make a  small ball..roll it.. kind of like making a snow ball ...lol... twist and pull into the tube.. keep rolling, I make it not so ball like but oblongish... I continue this until there is about 12" left... the twisting helps keep it in shape... now.. make a small knot...(the nipple)...lol... push this into the tube, and gather the rest,, now you can stitch it close.. this is the side on your skin... ..I will try to post a picture of the finished product... I kind of flatten it and sew the outer ring to the cup of the suit...

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  • LUVmy2girlZ
    LUVmy2girlZ Member Posts: 2,394
    edited May 2008

    purplemb~

    Great idea for all those suites I have and I don't want to buy more!

    What do you mean "tube" once you buy the scrubby do you take it apart/unravel it ?

    I have seen these scrubby's they are the soft ones like nylon not the other scrubby hard type.

    Better than a sock! LOL....

    Much LUV

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  • pdphill
    pdphill Member Posts: 1
    edited May 2008

    Hi, I still wear bra while swimming.  I sew a pocket and put prostheses foam inside my bra.  It's quite ok because it doesn't absorbed water and it didn't change shape when I am out of the pool.

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  • otter
    otter Member Posts: 6,099
    edited May 2008

    purplemb, I can't figure out what those things are. They look like coconut hull fiber.  :)  Are they really that brown color, or is that just the pic?

    The reason I am curious is because all the "scrubby" things I've been able to find have been either too scratchy to put against skin; or great sheets of mesh stuff, all gathered together with a cord and hopelessly bunched-looking (not tubes).

    I can picture the "tube" concept, but the only thing I can think of that is constructed that way is a "chore boy" dish scrubby that would be too harsh I think.  Are the things in your pic (that you bought at WalMart for 94 cents) something else?  What department are they in?  What does WalMart call them?  What color are they?

    otter 

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  • purplemb
    purplemb Member Posts: 1,542
    edited May 2008

    sorry the pic was scanned . one is grey and one is black... they match my suits...

     LUV... yup take it apart ...

    the ones at WalMart are in the Cosmetic Dept.. and are about 94 cents... they really aren't that rough...and yes the mesh at the store is rough...

    try it you'll love them... they dry so fast and are very light weight....

    MB

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  • paige-allyson
    paige-allyson Member Posts: 781
    edited June 2008

    They are great! I am not very "crafty"  but I made a pretty decent one after a few tries. I still have to sew it but I tried it out swimming today- worked well and is more comfortable than my "real" prosthesis which feels annoying against my chest when swimming.

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  • purplemb
    purplemb Member Posts: 1,542
    edited June 2008

    allys...so glad you tried them... I love them... and you don't really have to be that crafty...lol...

    hugs enjoy swimming

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  • lvtwoqlt
    lvtwoqlt Member Posts: 6,162
    edited June 2008

    I don't need one but will try making one for my mom and others in the local support group.

    Sheila

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  • nagem
    nagem Member Posts: 353
    edited June 2008

    I wonder if you could explain this in a little more detail. Particularly the "pull into the tube" part. I don't quite get it ...

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  • Erica3681
    Erica3681 Member Posts: 1,916
    edited June 2008

    purplemb,

    If you wanted to do a "photo essay" showing how to transform the poofy into a swim form, maybe I could post it on my BreastFree website.

    Barbara 

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  • BoobsinaBox
    BoobsinaBox Member Posts: 550
    edited June 2008

    That sounds like a lot of work, but it really would be great for those of us who are "directionally" challenged!

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  • purplemb
    purplemb Member Posts: 1,542
    edited June 2008

    Ok.. Barb..thanks, but I am dial up challenged...and don't think I could get the stuff to go thru the email...maybe I could snail mail a CD or something...PM me a let me know...maybe some one at PINKSTOCK can do a video?... I will try...

    anyway let me try....after twisting the tube....you push the "boob" into it...like pulling a sock that is inside out...so that everything is inside and start rolling again...

    Please feel free to contact me...PM me & I'l give you my land line...lol  MB

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  • nagem
    nagem Member Posts: 353
    edited June 2008

    so do you push the wadded-up part all the way through to the other end? Mine seem pretty unstable. One tug and the whole thing unspools.

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  • purplemb
    purplemb Member Posts: 1,542
    edited June 2008

    Nagem....I twisted the netting before I pushed it through... and it seems to help hold it, when done I sewed it together...it does become more stable.. I am working on pictures..

    MB

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  • Binney4
    Binney4 Member Posts: 8,609
    edited July 2008

    MB, help!

    Maybe it's that I live in the desert and I'm snowball-challenged, but I can't seem to figure out what (or how much) to roll into a ball, or what (or how far) to stuff it into, or...

    (And my, goodness! Once you cut these things apart they turn out to have about a mile of netting in them! Tongue out)

    Completely stumped,

    Binney 

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  • BoobsinaBox
    BoobsinaBox Member Posts: 550
    edited July 2008

    Binney,

    I could have written your post!  I call it directionally challenged, because crocheting directions never spoke to me either.  I bought and gave away my first scrubbies, and I still haven't figured it out!  I do admire MB and the others who have made it work!

    Dawn

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  • SQK
    SQK Member Posts: 89
    edited July 2008

    MB -- Thanks so much for this awesome idea!  I happened to have an extra new poofy on hand.  I took it apart and started snowballing as you described.  The first time, it turned out a little too round.  So I unrolled and tried again, this time making the shape more oblong as you suggested.  It looks great!  Now I just need to get another new poofy at the store so I can make one for the other side.  I had a bilat mast at the end of February and have been kind of avoiding the whole swimming thing since I didn't have anything to use inside my suit that was waterproof.  I finished chemo 4 weeks ago and I'm in the middle of rads now.  So I didn't want to spend a lot of money on breast forms until I decide what I'm doing about recon, which will come after rads if I choose to proceed with it.  Anyhow, your swimming poofy idea is an inexpensive solution to my swimsuit problem.  Thank you SO MUCH!!  Laughing

    Sue K. 

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  • jaciruth
    jaciruth Member Posts: 10
    edited July 2008

    I'm one of the directionally challenged as well.  Do you roll a little and then pull it through and then roll some more?  Also, do you roll, twist and then pull it through from the top and then repeat?  I don't know if that makes sense but I'm not having much luck making the poofy stay in place.  They look great and I'd really like to make them.  Thanks.

    Jaciruth

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  • purplemb
    purplemb Member Posts: 1,542
    edited July 2008

    Jaciruth,

    Roll, a little, pull through, twist, repeat...

    MB

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  • jaciruth
    jaciruth Member Posts: 10
    edited July 2008

    Thanks, I'll give it a try!!

    Jaciruth

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  • Sandra56
    Sandra56 Member Posts: 9
    edited July 2008

    Well, Jaciruth, you are not the one who is directionally challenged.  I tried everything, I was able to do the rolling and tucking and then...what do you pull it through, the hole at the opposite end?   Hmmm, that didn't work!  Finally, I just somehow, kept the "snowball" in the middle and kinda pulled up the netting around it and up over the top and then twisted.  I think might the idea, but I couldn't get it right, and the result was a mess. 

    A friend suggested a technique where you would just wrap the netting around your hand and then pull it through. 

    So, I'm hoping that MB will post those pictures, it's such a great idea!  Thanks MB! 

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  • SoCalLisa
    SoCalLisa Member Posts: 13,961
    edited July 2008

    MB..will you show BMD how to do it at Pinkstock??? Then maybe she can show me

    when she gets back home...

    Pretty Please.... 

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  • starzhere
    starzhere Member Posts: 162
    edited July 2008

    What do you do if you need something bigger than an A cup?

    The problem I'm having is that I bought a regular bathing suit from landsend with an underwire bra in a D cup.  The suit is pretty tight and when I put my regular prosthesis in it, it stays perky while my natural breast turns into a pancake.  Not a good look. LOL  So, I need something that is flatter.  I think your scrunchie might work, if I could get a D cup. 

     ~elaine!

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  • mthomp2020
    mthomp2020 Member Posts: 1,959
    edited July 2008

    I would think that you could use more than 1 poofy, maybe sewing the ends of them together, and just keep doing it until you get the right size.  Since I'm an A, one was perfect, and really seems to match well in my suit, though the suit has softcups in it.  If your suit doesn't have a cup in it, it might not be as smooth looking as you like.

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  • purplemb
    purplemb Member Posts: 1,542
    edited July 2008

    sorry friends... had to take my family on vacation before PINKSTOCK... they work so hard..

    any way... for a bigger cup use more....

    the snow ball theory is the idea... but make it oblong...the twisting and warpping is what I did, its kind of hard to visualize..but will try to get a photo this week...

    And SOCAL of course I will teach BMD then she can have west coast lessons...lol...

    SO lots to do, but since I must down load vacation photos I may just do the poofy too.. and yes unrolled they are a mile long...lol

    hugs to all,  MB the nut on the hill 

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  • purplemb
    purplemb Member Posts: 1,542
    edited August 2008

    ok .. I need a little help...lol

    Dear Patricia...(NC).. I received your package....but what size?... a very important tid bit left out... lol...

    please PM me... or call

    thanks

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  • otter
    otter Member Posts: 6,099
    edited November 2008

    I'm bumping this up because I found a bath poofy that is a creamy, off-white color, exactly like my skin color (my boob color, anyway).

    But, I've re-read this whole thread twice, and even though I spent 30 years in Minnesota and made plenty of snowballs, I still can't picture how to do the wrapping/rolling/twisting stuff.

    I guess I need more detailed, specific instructions from someone who has made this work.  Photos would help, if anyone has any.

    <sigh>

    otter 

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  • starzhere
    starzhere Member Posts: 162
    edited February 2009

    Hi, MB

    I'm just wondering if you ever took sequenced pictures of how to make a "poofy boobie".  I'd really like to try making one for this summer.  If you have the ability to video the steps, you could post it on Youtube.  

     Have ever considered making and selling them?

     ~elaine~

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  • purplemb
    purplemb Member Posts: 1,542
    edited February 2009

    Elaine,

     I have, just life takes me many different directions and not much puter time, and slow dial up at home.. so sorry...

    PM me and I can maybe email the picture to you.. then print out the instructions..and see of they make sense..

    oh BTW I never charge but have made a few.. even a knitty titty or two...lol..

    hmmm. still wish we could cut & paste..  maybe someone would offer to post the pictures if I emailed them to you?.. I don't have the speed for uploading to a website...

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  • starzhere
    starzhere Member Posts: 162
    edited February 2009

    If you check Erica's (aka Barbara) post, she said that if you email her some pictures she could post them on her BreastFree website.  That would be great, since the directions and photos would be accessible to more ladies.

    I am working on trying to make one and I think I have the basic idea.  How many times do you roll, twist and pull through the tube?  So far, mine is looking kind of flat and doesn't have the projection that yours has.

    To pull the ball through the tube, I've found that the easiest way to do it is to put my right hand in the tube pulling the tube up my arm.  Then I put the ball into my right hand and pull the netting tube off my arm and over the ball.  I don't know if that makes any sense.

    Thanks for your help

    ~elaine~

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