Bastelkram: baby

From prudentbaby

DIY Nursing Cover Tutorial

1. Wash, iron and cut your fabric. A yard will do it. I used Paula Prass Summer Soiree chevron in leaf green (still available here). You need three pieces.
26"X38" for the cover
30"x3" for one side of the strap
10"X3" for the other side of the strap
You also need a piece of boning 14" long (i bought one foot and they threw in the two inches) - you can get this at any fabric store for about 50 cents - and a set of d-rings, also about 50 cents.

2. Take the strap pieces and fold them in half, right sides facing:

sew them together with a 1/4" seam allowance:

3. Turn them inside out with a loop turner or like so. Insert a safety pin to one side:

Feed it back in on itself:

Work it through until it turns:

Then iron flat with the seam in the middle, repeat on both straps (the seam side will be the back of your straps):

3. Now take one edge of each strap and fold it over 1/4" and iron:

On the short strap, grab your d-rings and fold the fabric over them and pin like so:

Sew in place with a strong stitch as this area will get a lot of stress on it:

On the other strap, just fold over and sew:

4. Now grab your cover fabric. On the bottom edge, along the length, fold over 1/2" and iron, then another 1/2" and iron:

Sew in place with a straight stitch:

5. On the perpendicular sides (the two shorter sides) do the same thing:

6. Now for the top of your homemade nursing cover. Fold the top edge over 1/2" and iron, then another inch and iron:

Fold the whole thing in half to find the center of the top. Measure 7" in from the center and mark with a pin on both sides:

Sew the seam with a straight stitch in between your two pins:

Insert your 14" piece of boning with the curve out to the right side of your fabric:

Sew up the seam (perpendicular to your hem) to secure the boning in place:

7. Now to attach our straps. Insert the strap right side up under the hem next to the boning:

Fold it up over the hem, iron and pin in place:

Repeat with the other strap on the opposite side:

Sew in place with a straight stitch forming a box (to give your straps holding power):

8. Now just sew the remainder of the seam in place, from the strap to the edge:

Done!

From noodlehead

1/3 yard linen (you'll have plenty of scraps leftover)
fabric scraps
cotton webbing 1.5" wide - 8" long
velcro (3/4" wide by 1.25")
fusible fleece - you could also use cotton batting
sewing machine, thread, pins, etc.

I was surprised at how quick this project is, so definitely churn some out for friends and family!

Cut the pieces:

{pictured above are the materials for the butterfly print version - but you get the idea}
From the linen cut 2 pieces 8.5" wide by 5" tall. Also cut 2 pieces 8.5" wide by 10" tall - this will be your lining. From your scraps (and feel free to make these strips patchwork, too) end up with 2 pieces 8.5" wide by 3.5" tall and 2 pieces 8.5" wide by 2" tall for the version shown with the butterfly print.

{For the blue version cut 2 pieces 8.5"wide by 3.5" tall of linen and 2 pieces 8.5" wide by 6.5" tall of the blue print - sew these two together and they make up the exterior of the pouch.}

Cut 2 pieces of fusible fleece 8.5"wide by 9.5" tall.

Make the exterior:

Sew the strips and linen pieces together using a 1/4 inch seam allowance (making two finished pieces 8.5" wide by 9.5" tall). Press seams open. Fuse fleece to WRONG side of both exterior pieces.

Sew on the fuzzy piece of the velcro about two inches down and centered on one of the exterior pieces (this will be the front of the diaper keeper).

With RIGHT sides facing, sew the two exterior pieces together using a 1/2" seam allowance around both sides and bottom.

Pinch the corners together and sew a straight stitch 1" from the point. Do this for both corners. Clip corners.

Make the lining:

With RIGHT sides facing, sew the lining together on the sides and bottom, but this time leave a 3" opening at the bottom (this will be for turning later). Box the corners as you did with the exterior.

Attach the cotton webbing:

Baste the cotton webbing to the RIGHT side of the exterior piece at the back of the diaper keeper. Another option on this step would be to make a fabric strap. If you do use the cotton webbing I would recommend getting a fairly thin one (mine was from Hancock Fabrics), some webbing is much thicker than others.

Assembling the diaper keeper:

With the RIGHT sides facing, slip the exterior into the lining, matching up the top and side seams, pin and sew all the way around the top with a 1/2" seam allowance.

Be sure to tuck the cotton webbing down into the diaper keeper.

Pull the exterior through the opening you left in the lining. Poke out corners.

Sew the opening shut with a very small seam allowance, or sew by hand.

Push the lining into the diaper keeper. Since the lining was a 1/2" taller than the exterior, it'll form a nice border along the top edge of the diaper keeper.

Press and stitch "in the ditch" all around the diaper keeper.

Finish the strap:
Pull the cotton webbing around to the front and adjust as necessary to line up with the fuzzy part of the velcro.