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Nursing covers are not for everyone, but if a cover helps you feel more comfortable breastfeeding in public, you might be glad to find these instructions to sew your own “Bebe au Lait”-style nursing cover. Heather at Sleek Mama created these detailed pattern instructions and sewed two stylish covers for just $8!
Materials:
• 1 yard of fabric
• D rings. They are the rings that you can adjust your strap with. They are in the shape of a D, hence the name, and come in silver or gold. I got the 1 1/4 inch size, but you could go a little bigger.
• Corset Boning. It comes in white or black and it comes in different strengths (or stiffness). I chose the stiffest one they had and bought 1/2 yard. It is 1/4 inches wide.
• Of course you need thread. The entire project cost me $8 to make two, the fabric was on sale and I had the thread.
1. First, I cut the fabric 26 x 38 inches. The finished product is 24 x 36 inches (that’s the size of the original Hooter Hiders) so cut it a bit bigger so you can sew the hem around. This size is perfect because the longer side wraps around your sides under your arms and covers anything that might be sticking out.
2. I cut the strips for the neck straps. The longer one I cut 31 inches long (this seems just a little long to me as I have a lot of excess when I make it the right length for breastfeeding) by 3 inches wide. The shorter strip which will hold the D rings I cut 10 inches long by 3 inches wide. Here are pictures of the straps below:
Long strap:
Short strap:
3. To sew these, I just sewed down the middle turning the fabric under (you can see on the long strap my stitch down the middle). I sewed the long strap to a point by just folding the corners down and stitching over. I sewed the short strap the same way and just put the D rings on the end and sewed the fabric over. The raw ends of both straps will be sewn into the hem so you don’t have to worry about finishing them.
4. Now set the straps aside and sew a hem around 3 sides of the large piece of fabric (leaving the top, or one long side, unsewn). I just folded the edge under and sewed around, no pinning needed because I just held it as I went.
5. Next I sewed in about 10 inches on one side of the top where I will put the straps and boning. I then put one strap with the raw end folded under the hem and sewed over it.
6. Next you want to put your boning in between where your straps will be. All you need to do is place the boning under the hem and stitch the hem just like the other side. Make sure you put the boning in so the curve is going to face the right way (It will have a definite bend/curve to it). The distance between my straps is about 13-14 inches.
7. Next, sew your other strap on and then finish stitching until the end. I did make another stitch on my straps above the original stitch (see in picture of short strap above) to give is reinforcement.
View from back:
View from front:
Boning in neck:
8. Now you can add a little pocket to the bottom corner on the backside. I didn’t do that yet on this one, but what works really well is to take a baby washcloth (I bought some on clearance) and sew it on three sides. That way, you could put breast pads in there and use it to wipe your little one’s mouth or your breasts if you need to.
The finished product:
Heather insists she is not an expert seamstress, and this project took her just 30-45 minutes!
For other DIY breastfeeding and baby gift projects, see:
~ Knitted Nursing Tank Top
~ Pullover Crew Neck Baby Bib
~ Baby Bib with Neck Ties
~ Ring Sling
~ Nursing Necklace
~ Nursing Pads
~ Baby Booties
~ Cloth Diapers
~ Nursing Pillow, Nursing Shirt, Nursing Bra and Pumping Bra, Cloth Diapers, and More
Well I tried my first attempt at one of these tonight. I made mine reversible so that you could have a fun pattern on one side with a more muted pattern on the other.
1 day ago
[...] Pattern for Nursing Covers [...]
Just made a slightly smaller version of this – thank you for a great idea!
67 days ago
[...] 4. Nursing covers – These are typically a sheet of fabric that covers the baby while nursing and attaches around your neck so that it doesn’t fall off. These are also meant to ease nursing in public if you are uncomfortable with others seeing baby nursing. Some people love them, others hate them. Personally, I never used one. This is another item that you could probably easily make yourself. [...]
From your experience using this cover up, would it make any difference whether or not the boning is 1/4″ or 1/2″ wide? I’m raiding my fabric stash to make these for charity. Thanks!
I’ve made a few of them and used different sized boning and it doesn’t matter what width it is.
I am not a sew-er however I am hoping that I can do this, this weekend! I am curious though about the pocket. Its a great idea and never would have thought about the pocket however you say putting the pocket to the bottom corner on the backside. Would this be right where the boning is or lower then that even? Or or the pocket not even be in the center of the cover? Sorry for my “special” questions.
Nether less, thank you in advance
thank you so much for posting this pattern!!! i would not of been able to breastfeed (a whole year! yay, for me!) without this cover!!! now, my sister is having a baby….guess what shes getting from me!!! thank you!!!
167 days ago
[...] genel olarak böyle bir şey. Kendisine veya bir yakınına hediye olarak dikmek isteyenler için bu adreste ölçüleriyle beraber anlatılmış, bakabilirsiniz. (Daha kolayıma geldiği için ben astarlı [...]
I have made several of these for myself and for family members. The trick with getting the boning to stick out is that it must be sewn under the neck straps !
Just finished my first nursing cover for my daughter who had her baby a week ago. I found the boning at Joanns Fabric. It was in a funky box in the notions section. I love the idea of donating these to OB departments. I belong to a charity sewing group and I am going to suggest we make some of these for our local hospital.
Great Idea!!
what tip do you have on getting the boning to stick out the right way?
thank you
How do you get the boning to stand out, rather than fall flat on the body??
Also, where did you get the boning from?
One change I made was instead of D rings, I used velcro. Makes taking off much easier. Thanks for the instructions….Saved my budget!
Where did or do you find the corset boning?
thankyou soo much for the great tutorial.. it was like a piece of cake.. and i was done in less than an hour since i am a beg
I have a bunch of material that a family member passed onto me, and i am going to use a couple of the prints to make some of these. I am due in 6 weeks and can’t afford to buy a brand new nursing cover but I have a machine, thread, material and the motivation… Thank you so much for posting this pattern!!!!! :)
thank you, i was looking for little special thing to do for my new grand and this helped alot…I’ve sewn 5 covers with different colors and they are going to add that little something extra i needed for my daughter in law.
I receive a problem subscribing to your RSS Feed… It says feed is live, however I never get updates in my feed reader… Any Thoughts?
wow!!!The great depiction step by step. eeven a stupid can be able to learn here –how to make a nursing cover from your sew pattern.
i was just wanting to know how i could get a pattern. i have so many friends that breast feed so i would love to start making them
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