How to Convert Your Own Clothes Into Nursing Clothes

Breastfeeding mothers don't always have to buy a whole new wardrobe; it's easy to convert items you already own into nursing clothes.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Blouses
• Camisoles
• Nursing Bras
• Tank Top
• Materials
• Sewing Kits
• Sewing Machine
• Scissors
• Scissors
• Blouses

1. Take a solid-colored T-shirt, and cut a vertical slit in it for easy nursing access. Make the opening long enough for comfortable access but not so long that the shirt loses its shape.

2. Zigzag around the edges of the slit so that it doesn't fray.

3. Cut a large square of fabric, big enough to cover the opening, plus a few inches all around. This can be a contrasting fabric, or it can match the T-shirt - your choice.

4. Turn in a small hem all the way around the fabric square, and straight-stitch or zigzag around the edges with a sewing machine.

5. Attach the fabric square to the T-shirt at the top and bottom - leave the sides open. This shirt is ready to be worn!

6. Cut nursing openings in a camisole or lightweight tank top.

7. Zigzag around the slits so that they don't fray.

8. Layer the item (tucked in or untucked) under any T-shirt or shirt, and nurse without showing off your postpartum tummy.

9. Use a tank top in the same fabric as your T-shirt, if you want to be as inconspicuous as possible - it will be hard for anyone to see that you are nursing.

Tips & Warnings

• Consider your size, personal style and body type when choosing a fabric for the overlay; also remember just where the fabric will be worn. Placement of individual flowers can be particularly tricky.
• Dresses with attached vests can also be turned into nursing wear - just cut the openings in the layer beneath the vest and finish the edges so that they don't fray.
• Overalls with deep armholes or shoulder-strap closures make great nursing garments, as do overall-style jumpers and dresses.
• Prewash the fabric, or it may shrink and spoil the shape of the shirt.
• Make sure the overlay is big enough to provide good coverage of the openings, or you'll be showing off more than you planned to!
• Nursing clothes take a lot of abuse, so be sure to choose durable, washable fabrics.

[eclecktic]

on 6/7/2009 T-shirt knit doesn't fray. You don't _have_ to zigzag to finish that edge. If you need to stabilize the edge from stetching too much, bind it with bias tape, because zigzagging could stretch the opening as you stitch. Unbuttoning your over shirt fron the bottom is more discreet than from the top, too.

on 8/8/2006 To save money, look for tops at thrift stores with false vests or overlays to cover up the openings you cut for nursing. If you sew, get simple tunic patterns that have a vertical princess line on each side and simply add an invisible zipper in each seam over the bust. If you are large busted, make sure the zippers are at least 10 inches long. Also, look for patterns that have a horizontal seam over the bust, and put invisible zippers in the seams that meet in the center front. Sew a short bit of vertical stitching in between where the zipper stops meet for extra strength. Horizontal seams are often found in pullover patterns designed for fabrics like polar fleece.
I have used both zipper techniques and altered ready made tops with great success. The zippers work very well and there is no need for layers. For the experienced sewer, almost any style is possible, but I find tunics easy and quick to make and they can be formal or casual.