Nursing Cover {Tutorial}

First off, we got a face lift.  What do ya think?  I love it- so happy!  I needed a change, bad.

I obviously can't speak from experience, but I am completely enamored by breastfeeding (except for the fact that I was breastfed, but not like I remember that).
That sounds kind of weird-Ha!  Explain:
I think what strikes me as so awesome is that God created this amazing process of procreation and took care of/made provisions for any minute detail that a mother would have to worry about, including feeding.  It reminds me of Matthew 6:25-34 where Jesus is preaching his Sermon on the Mount and talking about the Father's provision of all of our needs when we seek His kingdom and righteousness.  I know He's talking more about survival needs, emotional needs, etc., but still- it makes me think of His great design and I am in awe of it!  How little we deserve to even have food on our plates, clothes on our back, or a perfecting and gracious salvation.  Sometimes I worry in the mornings when we leave for work- or my family is miles away- that something horrible will happen and someone won't make it through the day.  I can rest in knowing that if God cares for the birds and flowers (and the weeds =D), He can fully care for us.  And, well, if something happens, His ways are better than mine (can someone read me this when a bad day does come and I'm lost?!  Yes?  Okay, thanks =D)
Anyshways, breastfeeding.  So cool.  I can't wait to experience that type of bonding with my baby when we have one.  Here is a very very easy tutorial for a Breastfeeding Cover/Nursing Apron/Hootie Hider that costs way less than those in the store and are, in my opinion, way cuter!

You will need:

2/3 yard main fabric

1/3 accent fabric

2 inches “piping” fabric (the little strip in between)

6" of Minkie or towel/terry cloth (optional)

15” of plastic boning

1 D-Ring set

Thread, machine, etc.

We are going to make the main part of the cover first.  I will explain how long and wide to cut your strap fabric when we actually get there.

• Cut your main fabric to be 35” by 20”.  Cut your accent fabric 35” by 7”.  Keep your piping fabric 2 inches, but trim it down to 35” in length.  Your fabrics will be different in width, but the same in length:

• Take your piping fabric and fold it in half “hot dog style” (sorry, middle school lingo) so that it is 35” long but now 1” wide.  Iron crease.  This is how wide your piping will be, less the seam allowance.  If you want it skinnier, trim it down (I cut it in half).  If you trim, make sure to keep the folded half. 

• Alright, place the raw edge of the piping strip along the bottom of the main fabric, matching raw edges.  Pin in place (mine looks like the "top", but I just turned it upside down):

•  Take your bottom strip of fabric and place it upside down (right sides together with main fabric) and pin down so that raw edges are even.  Serge across (if you are not serging, you will have a raw, unfinished seam on the back of your cover.  I suggest doing a Flat felled seam):

•  Open out and iron.  If needed, trim your edges so that they are straight and even (yes, I even had to trim.  It happens!)

It should look this way when you open it out.  The piping in the middle of the two fabrics will be a tiny "flap".

Trim it!

•  Now we will be hemming the sides and bottom of the cover.  Do not hem the top!  We have to insert the straps and boning  First, fold the sides in 1/4 inch, then 1/2 inch.  Iron.  Then fold the bottom and iron.

Fold in the corner (last picture) so that you have a nice, even edge =D)

•  Optional:  Minkie Hootie Pads for easy mouth/hootie wiping:  Slip a piece of paper into the corner and mark how big you want your pad to be.  If you make them too big, they turn out to be really floppy and easy to snap on things.  If you wiggle the corner of the paper into the corner of the folds you just made, all you need to do is draw the hypotenuse of the triangle and there is your pattern!  Once you cut 2 out, serge or fold under and stitch the hypotenuse side.  The other sides will be sewn into your hems.

Click on me to see detailed pictures!

•  Place your minkie pads into the corners of the cover and pin in place.

•  Stitch the hem down, starting in the top right corner and sewing down, back stitching at the beginning and end.  Sew off the cover when you are sewing each side (as in don't pivot- back stitch in each corner and start a new stitch for the bottom and last side).

 Then it looks like...

• Wowza!  Now, for the top.  Fold the top down 1/4 inch, then an entire inch.  Iron.

•  I don't have a picture for this, but now measure the entire length of this top edge you just folded.  Say it's around 33.  We have 15" of boning we have to insert, which goes in the very center.  We want to have our straps on the very outside of this boning, so we need to know how far in to place the straps (don't worry, we will make them in a minute!).  Subtract 15 from 33, which is 18.  18 divided by 2 is 9, which means we need to have the straps sewn in 9 inches in from each edge.  Measure in 9 inches from the edge on each side and put a pin in the fabric. 

Don't sew anything yet!  Let's make the straps first.

•  Straps- cut these from the fabric you bought for the bottom of the cover.  You need to cut 2 pieces:  29" by 6" and 10" by 6".

•  Complete the following steps for both straps:  Fold them in half hot dog style so that they are still just as long, just half as wide.  Iron.  Open up and fold each side in so that it touches the first fold line.  Iron.  Fold back in half on the original fold line.  Iron.  

Fold in Half.

Open out, fold both sides in to the fold.

Fold in half again.

•  On the long strap, open it back up and fold in the short side so that once the entire strap is sewn shut, you have a finished edge.  NO need to do this to the short one.

•  With both strap pieces folded and ironed, stitch on each side and around the edges to finish the edges.

•  Take your short strap and thread it through 2 D rings (yes, you need 2 of them, or 1 SET).  Sew a seam just below the D ring so that it doesn't slide around.

This package has 2 sets of D rings- there are 4 pieces.  In order for it to work, you need 2 Rings at once!

•  Placement on the cover:  Remember how we pit pins in the cover 9 inches in from each side?  Place your straps under the folded hem as such, right up to the pin, but not past it.  It's going to look wrong because your straps will be pointing down.  Don't worry- just trust!

Left side

Right side

•  Sew from the left corner all the way over to the pin, sewing over the strap and sewing it in place.  Sew past the straps, over the center where the boning will be, then stop 1 inch from the right pin.  Sew, then, from the other side the same way to sew the other strap down, but stop at the pin.  Basically, the whole top of the cover will be sewn except for a small hole by one of the straps:

• Flip both straps upward over the fold so that they are facing up and stitch in place like such:

Stitch in place in a "square" pattern.  Do this to both straps.

•  Insert boning into the casing you just made through the hole you left when sewing the straps in/hemming the top.  It should just fit and be snug.

•  Once the boning is in place, stitch the hole closed.

•  Attach your zipper foot and sew all the way around the boning so it is snug and wants to curve outward.

 and.....

 Finito!

Wayyyy cheap.  I added some flowers to make it ultra cute.  Loooove it!