Recently, a post on the blog, and another one on the Breastfeeding Place Facebook page, stirred up quite a discussion. Should you wear a nursing cover? Does it make you a nursing-nazi not to? Does wearing a nursing cover mean you’re giving in to someone else’s opinion about how you feed your baby?
Although I’m now, in some ways, an “older mama,” I remember well the moments of having a newborn and wishing my ever-so-social little one wouldn’t pop away mid-guzzle to smile at a stranger, spraying milk and exposing me to the world. From that moment on, I knew I would use a nursing cover, at least with my more outgoing little ones, when nursing in public. Still, I believed, and I still do, that it is important to every mama and to our society, to nurse freely in public, and a nursing cover is only a way to add comfort to mama and baby. Thus, if you’re going to wear one (and there are many styles out there to choose from!), it should of course be comfortably cute!
When it came time to create a special gift for a new-mama-friend, I knew I wanted to make her a cute nursing cover.
Nursing Cover Tutorial
For this nursing cover, I used:
- 3/4 yard lightweight cotton fabric
- 1/2 yard contrasting fabric (plus a leftover scrap from another project)
- 15 inches fabric-covered polyester boning
- 2 one-inch “D” rings
- matching thread
First, I cut the main fabric (already 45 inches “long” at purchase) to 26 inches wide. Hem all four edges, folding and then folding again, stitching a 5/8 inch seam along the edges. (I used a large bowl to create a template to round the corners, but this is optional and created a bit more work for hemming. Still, it did create a nice finished look!)
Fold the nursing cover in half on the long side to find the center point, and center the 15 inch boning on the wrong side of the fabric along the edge, so that the ends curve away from the fabric, and toward you. Using a wide zig-zag stitch, sew both sides of boning onto the “nursing apron” portion of the cover. (If you use polyester boning, you can straight-stitch right over each end, forming a more secure piece.)
Next, cut the contrasting “pocket” fabric into 8 inches by 12 inch rectangle. Fold the fabric in half, right sides together, so that the piece is now 5×8 inches.
Stitch around all four sides, leaving a small opening to flip fabric right-side-out, after clipping all four corners. Top-stitch around all four sides, close to the edges.
Pin the pocket to a bottom corner of the nursing cover (several inches in from both sides), and stitch around the sides and bottom, creating a pocket.
If desired, repeat with a smaller rectangle, forming a smaller “accessory” pocket.
Cut remaining contrasting (or if you prefer, the main fabric) fabric into two 3 inch by 8 inch rectangles. Fold each strap in half length-wise, with right sides in, and stitch 1/2 inch seam along open edge. Turn right-side-out, and top-stitch along the edges for a finished look.
Pull one strap through two D-rings, fold in half, and stitch the folded end as close as possible to the rings to hold them in place.
Turn the unfinished ends under to create a finished edge, and stitch the strap, with D-rings up and away from the cover, onto the wrong side of the edge of the fabric, directly against one end of the boning.
Now take the second strap and turn in the ends to create a finished look. Stitch this strap to the nursing cover on the wrong side, at the other end of the boning.
(For more pictures of my nursing cover along the way, click here.)
Now that it’s finished, you and baby can enjoy nursing distraction-free whenever you choose!
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