Nursing Cover Tips

So I mentioned recently how I had made the nursing covers from Sew Much Ado.  I made them pretty much as instructed there, but when our mom was here a couple weekends ago we figured out a few tricks to make them just a little better and a little easier.

I was wanting to just rewrite the whole thing, but I really don't have time right now, so you'll want to use this in addition to the Sew Much Ado tutorial.

Supplies Needed:
1 yard fabric - the thicker cottons work great
16” boning (in fabric casing)
2 D-rings (1.5")
I've pointed out some D-rings (on the wall) and the boning (on the shelf) in the picture.  The 1.5" D-rings are usually sold with 4, and the boning you just buy by the yard (or inches...).








As changed above, you do not need 1.25 yards with most fabrics.

Everything I've used so far is about 44" wide so if you cut it right you'll still have a few inches extra with 1 yard.
The sizes you need are:
· one rectangle 28”x40” for main body
· one strip 4.25”x10” for neck strap
· one strip 4.25”x26” for neck strap

  This is how to cut it with 1 yard of fabric:

I keep the whole 44" width so it ends up being 2" longer on each side, which is fine with me.  You can cut it down to 40" if you want, but it's more work :)
Then with the bottom strip, once it's cut to 4.25" wide, just cut off a 10" strip and a 26" strip.  Toss the scrap and you're done cutting.

The Strap:
For ease in adjusting, its nice to have more than just the last few inches of the length narrowed .  Start narrowing it about halfway down the length.

The Straps:
This was the part that we noticed the biggest difference when changing it a little bit and it makes it a lot more functional.  The way I did it, the straps were sewn starting at the edge of the boning which caused the front opening to sag when you wear it.  The straps need to overlap the boning to prevent this.  *So, going back I realized that the Sew Much Ado tutorial actually did say to do it this way, but I didn't notice it from the instructions.  Hopefully this will clarify.

First, sew the boning as instructed, centered along the top edge.  When attaching the straps center the middle of the strap with the edge of the boning like this:

When you fold over the edge it will look like this:

The finger shows where the edge of the boning is. Pin and finish attaching as instructed.
And finish the rest of the edges as instructed.

*You can save a lot of time by not pre-folding or ironing all the edges over before hemming them.  Its really helpful for the top so you know where to sew the boning in, but with the others just press them afterward and they still look great.   

Hope this helps!