Sunday, December 6, 2009

Teaching myself how to sew!

So, even though I kind of knew how to sew before this year, it was mainly only hemming my pants of taking shirt straps up... This year I became a bit more adventurous :)
I decided that I didn't want to spend $40+ on a nursing cover when it look SOOO easy to make! So I did a bit of research, found a free pattern (tweaked it of course, because I just can't leave anything as it... gotta put my own stamp of creativity on it, or something) and 'whipped' this puppy out in about 2 weeks...
I know, two weeks doesn't sound fast, but when your baby boy is crawling and attempting to ingest pins, needles, fabric straps and chew on scissors... the sewing time is limited to nap times and after bed time (which half of the times I either needed to do household chores, or wanted to veg out).
So long story short, this probably only took me a total of 3-5 hours TOPS... and that is mainly because I am super slow with everything creative and would stop mid process to research a better hem, or a better way to turn a corner... here is what I did :)
Fabric is cut, strap is sewn and ready to be attached to the main swatch of fabric, pins EVERYWHERE!
Detail of the pockets (not on all nursing covers, thought it might be handy, kind of is sometimes). I also added a bit of burp rag to the corners, cause Chase always seemed to detach himself more when we were in public and a burp rag would have been useful at those times.
close up of the neck strap
After sewing! YAY it actually worked! Sometimes I really do surprise myself! :)
Detail of the finished pocket and improved finished corner

Detail of the Over-all clasp, I thought it would be an easier feature than having to thread two D rings every time I needed to nurse... and I was right :) Super easy to use. You can also see the insert of boning in the front area.


Finished product with my funky pattern! You can see here how the boning is used to keep the fabric away from the neck so Mama can see her baby :)


Used it SOOOO much during the summer months, and wish I would have made it sooner to get more use of it... Oh well, I will just have to wait for our next kid to get full use of it :)
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2 comments:

Rachel said...

Looks amazing! You're well on your way to being proficient. :) Can't wait to see more!

Sarah Keith said...

Mel, you are a woman of many talents! Are you doing this during naptime????