Nursing Cover

I have a baby shower to attend and thought that a nursing cover would be a good gift for a couple of reasons. They are very handy, not just for being covered while nursing, but they also double as a light blanket or floor mat when the child is a little bigger and sitting or playing with toys. They are also really easy to make. I am still surprised when I see $40 tags on them. So I shall show you how I made this one.

 I started with a large rectangle of fabric. The measurement I chose for this one was 40"x28", but you can adjust that measurement to whatever you would like. (I realized later, that if I had made it 38" wide could have used the scraps for my straps. Since I had oodles of fabric, I wasn't as concerned about conserving fabric, but if you only have a yard to work with it is very doable). 

 I hemmed the bottom and sides.

 Then I ironed down the top. First a 1/4", then about 1/2"-3/4", to give it a nice finished edge.

 Then it was time for the boning. I used the tip I found on this other nursing cover style and used 15" of boning in 16" of casing. I tacked the boning so it was centered, making sure that when the top was hemmed down, the boning would curve the right direction. 

          

 Next came the straps. Mine were 4.5"x28". Fold in half and sew along one edge, gradually narrowing to a point (as shown). Trim and turn right-side out.

 Iron.

 The other strap is only 4.5"x8". Stitch along one side. Turn right-side out and iron.

 Slide two D buckles in and fold in half (Walmart has these in the notions section).

 I basted the bottom edges together so that they would be easy to work with. Then stitch near the top- at the point just before the fabric all starts to bunch around the buckle.

 Pin one strap on each side of the boning and sew the top hem closed.

 Fold straps up and sew in place.

  Like so.

 There you have it- one nursing cover. I am pretty sure it took less than an hour.

For fun, I sewed a little bag to store the nursing cover in. I took a piece of fabric 12"x8", folded it in half the narrow way, sewed along the bottom and side, hemmed the top, and turned right side out. I then made a little velcro strap so that it could be attached anywhere (car seat, diaper bad, stroller handle, wrist, etc.) It is just a narrow piece of fabric, about 1.5"x10", sew along the edge, turn right-side out and iron, tuck in ends and  top stitch, add velcro on opposite sides. After attaching the velcro together so it formed a loop, I folded it in half and stitched that point to the seam of the bag.

 Voila! Quick bag for carrying around the nursing cover.