adamiamelia

my babies

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Tutorial: Nursing Top - wardrobe refashion

When you're a nursing mom, every time you shop for clothes you've always got to think about whether you can breastfeed in any clothes you buy. You probably have to reorganise your existing clothes too, put away all the other tops that are hard to nurse in. Whenever i say to my husband ' bang, i like this top a lot..but..i can't breastfeed in it!' He always replies ' It's ok, you can alter it later. Turn it into a nursing top'. And i'll roll my eyes..mcmla his wife so clever boleh tukar semua top jadi nursing top...but deep down i also take it as a challenge...nursing tops are expensive! it would be great if i can alter my existing wardrobe...

So this is my first attempt..i'll share it here because it's so easy i bet anyone can do it too..

Start with a couple of t shirts of the same or coordinating colours. Dig into your old clothes. Or you can get these cheap anywhere. This project work best if you use cotton knit shirts. These shirts I used were actually one of mine and one of my sister's that i accidentally brought to london because they are identical. (sorry Acah, klong gunting baju Acah! hehehe....)

Cut the extra shirt into strips of 3.5inch width (If you're not making a nursing top you can use narrower strips). I have 3 strips here but I actually cut 4 (the fourth not in photo).

Cut away one of the seams and open up the strips.

Gather your strips. To gather, use a long stitch on your machine and pull one of the threads.

Pin you first ruffle around the neckline.

Sew the ruffle on. The great thing about working with knit (t-shirt fabric) is that knit doesn't fray. So you don't need to hem, or finish the raw edges of your fabric. Put the shirt on and mark two horizontal lines where your breasts are. You probably have to enlarge the photo to see my lines there.

Pin your second ruffle on and sew.

Continue with the third ruffle. Cut the horizontal line that you marked earlier (remember knit doesn't fray but you can sew zigzag around the 'hole' if you like). I didn't and it's holding up great. I also added a fourth ruffle underneath but didn't have any photo of that.

Here's the result;


Very feminine, girly nursing top that is very easy to nurse in discreetly. You can make this pretty top even if you're not nursing. Try it!

13 comments:

Fathinz the wedding planner said...

pandainyaa awak..! hubby baru je smlm cakap, akak ulang2 pakai baju yang sama.. ye lah i only have 2 nursing top, and dua tuh je yang boleh bfeed while wrap. uwaaaa kena beli mesin jahit nih.

Melina said...

As usual, great work! I do not own a single nursing top. I make whatever top I wear work. Wearing dresses is a bit of a challenge so I don't wear them except for one in particular. I can plop them out from the top. I've been breastfeeding continuously (almost...Aiesha self weaned a few weeks before Sophia arrived but still had little nibbles) since July 2007 so all my inhibitions have gone out the window a long time ago. Sorry if my comment is a bit TMI for some. I memang tak reti malu. :D

Mx

mate said...

great job there, aida! very creative indeed!

Ernie Khairina said...

hahaha aida..aku macam dah lama ke tak jumpe ko? ngape ko sangatla berbakat ni. ya agree, even if not nursing, anyone can wear this pretty top!

p/s aku ada masalah susah nak tido..if only ko leh campak pregnant pillow ko dari sana..

Unknown said...

dot, cutenye top ni! aku tgk pic2 ni terfikir, nak potong baju kasi lurus cantik mcm ko pun aku tak confident. hahah! teruk kan? i think sewing is really not my talent la ;p

kemaryahya said...

terbaek!!
mesun, me too. sewing is not my thing. :D

echomyst said...

Oh wow, you're very talented and creative! I just pull my existing shirts up, or down, to nurse (and hope no one is watching closely, haha).

Nurhafizah Fauzi said...

wooowwooowoo aida..aku mmg tak bole pakai baju nih....gile busty nanti aku ..tolong design kan satu utk aku .. ruffle gak, tapi tak busty..heheh

aidafiqs adamia said...

kak fathin,
tulah, newborns nurse constantly and the only practical clothes to wear are nursing tops. later diorg dah besar sikit can negotiate tunggu jap bfeed dlm kete or balik rumah. kak, this top you can totally make by hand too. to gather jahit jelujur then tarik...pastu pin and then jahit backstitch..

melina,
how awesome that you've been breastfeeding since 2007!

mate,
thank you! weh..i miss you!

ernie,
ko dah pandai jahit kan..you can totally make this top. btw, i never had a pregnancy pillow with both my pregnancies...just think of your lack of sleep as 'practice'. hehe. if you think this is tiring, wait till he arrives ;)

chun,
i have one word for you - RULER. hehehehehe...

kemar,
don't throw the idea out before you try it..you might fall in love with it like i did :)

echomyst,
i would use the tops that i can pull down, but i try not to pull up because i use a wrap and she nurses constantly so my flabby belly would be on constant display ;)

fizah,
just attach one ruffle along the neckline. or 2 ruffles running along neckline, meet in middle and run vertically down.or narrow ruffles in swirls on the side.

tuty said...

aida,

a big thank you! very BIGGGG..

Fathinz the wedding planner said...

wah menarik tuh jahit by hand. betul gak kan idea awak. kalo nak beli top sume seratus lebih. beli baju murah2 sama design dua ek. two tone ke cun gak

Hada Masayu said...

i think kan aida, the tutorial nampak senang..tapi tak sesenang yg aku sangkakan, hehe..aku yg sekapal ngan chun n kema..hehe..maybe, cikgu aida kena ada sebelah aku ;p

HannahThompson said...

This girly nursing top is very easy to nurse in discreetly. It make me preety,
thank you this superb blog....
maternity style

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