A method of manufacturing an absorbent article in the form of a pants-type diaper or a sanitary panty starts from a flat blank which includes an elongated absorbent body (5) enclosed between two casing sheets (2, 9) which at opposing front and rear end parts of the absorbent body have side parts which extend laterally beyond the body on opposite sides thereof. The method includes the step of folding the blank about a transverse axis so that the end edges of the side parts lie edge-to-edge. The front and rear side parts of the blank which oppose one another in the folded state of the blank are joined together by a releasable and refastenable fastener (20).