Since before Cassidy was born, I've been eyeing these very awesome nursing tanks. Being the cheap person I am though, I didn't want to pay $25 for 1 nursing top - especially living in Texas where you sweat in the summer and need a serious full change of clothes everyday! I knew there had to be another solution that I could do myself. I found quite a few funny tutorials online about how to keep all your stomach flab hidden while nursing. A nursing cover really only makes sure your chest stays covered and (regardless of how skinny you are) after having a c-section you're bound to have some lumps and bumps all over your tummy for quite a while during your post-partum adjustment. Back to the point, I came across this tutorial from RefashionMama. Amazing. It taught me how to take my 3 Worthington tank tops that I already love (which, by the way, were only $8 each on sale) and with 5 minutes, a couple snips and a few stitches make them into nursing tops that actually work for me.
Her tutorial is near perfect, so check it out (it's linked to her name above). Here are some snapshots of my tops and the few little tips that would've made her directions even better for me!
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| 1) See the brown tank (at the top)? That was my first loop. I did it backwards. In the tutorial, she has you turn your shirt inside out, so I suggest turning it right-side out and double checking that you're sewing your loop the correct way. 2) I also think the ones that are more loopy (like the black one on the bottom) will work better. You can sew it so that it's more of a loop. My straps preferred to lay themselves one on top of the other so I had to work a little to get it stay loopy while I sewed. 3) When you make the loop with your strap, let the portion connected to the front of the tank be the outer side of the loop. It helps cover your bra better. I hope these tips make sense or at least the close-up helps. |
A couple side notes for those of you who haven't breastfed a baby yet. Side Note #1: There is a huge difference between feeling free to breastfeed uncovered in public and wanting to breastfeed uncovered in public. I want to be covered, COMPLETELY. If you don't care, then that's great for you. Side Note #2: At Target and Walmart you can find inexpensive nursing tanks, but they have shelf bras, and they really don't give that great of support to even my "little ladies". So I can wear those at home, but I'd prefer a real bra when I go out. I also don't want to have layers on layers of clothing on my chest when I am out in the Texas heat so these tanks are great for me!
My next project, naturally, was a nursing cover. I had some from when I nursed Samweli, but they were pretty worn down because I used them for so long. I didn't want to bother with such a large project (it's not advanced sewing or anything, but it was still too big of an undertaking for a mom with a newborn and two-year old) so I decided to use some pacifier clips that I had in a box and some lengths of ribbon to rig up my oversized receiving blankets for when I go out. My receiving blankets were another project from before Cassidy was born. You basically get about a yard or large square of flannel and finish the edges (by either serging or folding the edges over a couple times and top-stitching). Then, voila, you have a receiving blanket that is big enough to swaddle in (as compared to the ones that are just a tad too annoyingly small that you buy from the store - those are good for other uses). It was super simple and although I don't have the awesome boning (the plastic strip that keeps the cover open so you can see down to your baby hands free) I'm very happy with the result I got out of 5 minutes of my time. :)
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| Samuel wanted one too, so the short one on the top is his. :) |
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| On a real nursing cover, the wavy part between the clips would have the plastic boning. |
I don't know if it would be the same for every mama, but I cut an 18" length of ribbon and thread 1 and 1/2" inches through each side. I turned the ribbon twice and sewed it down. This length has worked great for me so far, but I've only done test runs at home with it. If you want to make a real nursing cover, check out this tutorial from Prudent Baby.
Samuel's is shorter, but we've already discovered two great uses for it:
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| Make-shift Bib (which he's obviously too old for, can you tell he thinks so too?) |
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| Super-hero Cape (that's an old dish towel) He likes to play with it this way much better! |
And a few more shots of super-hero fun:
