Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Bib or Nursing Cover Strap


When Spencer was nursing he was a flailer.  He would kick off any blanket I tried to put over him, and as a result I gave up trying to nurse in any kind of public area.  Now that I’m gearing up for baby girl, I wanted a nursing cover, but it seemed like one more thing I’d have to carry around.  I told my friend Erin that what I really needed was a dental bib cord, and she pulled out an adjustable strap with clips on both ends made specifically for nursing.  Brilliant!  I looked into buying one, but they’re $12, and that seems like a trivial thing to spend $12 on, so I thought I’d make one myself.

I wanted it to be adjustable because it can also be used as a makeshift bib by clipping it to a napkin.  Unfortunately I could not for the life of me get my hands on a slider without paying at least $5 for shipping, which I was not willing to do.  I even considered going to Goodwill for a cheap purse to hack the slider off of, but then my husband suggested Velcro instead.  Velcro was a great idea, but I already owned a sizable stash of buttons, and really it only needed 2 settings- the largest and the smallest.  I finally had my design!

You will need

One piece of cloth, 24” x 2 ½” (free)

1 set mitten/suspender clips ($2.99)

2 buttons (free)
 
My cut cloth amongst the button collection.

Right side out and ironed.
Sew the cloth together right-sides touching length-wise.  Turn the tube of cloth inside out by attaching a large safety pin to one end and send it up through the middle of the cloth inching the tube over the pin.  Iron the cloth flat.  Sew one of the mitten clips to one end, tucking the raw edge under or inside the tube before sewing it down.
I know I've mentioned before I'm not much of a seamstress.
Raw edge tucked inside and sewn shut.
This is how close I sewed the button to the buttonhole.  Note that I had to change buttons because my originals were too fat for the mitten clip to slip over.

On the other end, turn the raw edge of the cloth into the tube and sew it flat.  Sew a buttonhole on that end the size of the button you’re using.  Then sew a button close to the buttonhole, and another by the opposite end.  Put your mitten clip on and you’re ready to cover!

At nursing cover length...
...and bib length.

Spencer reluctantly models the strap as a bib.
Try It

$2.99 for the whole project.  My cloth was a Christmas gift from my father-in-law, and who knows where 
the buttons came from! 

Buy It

Between $7.99 and $12 from various companies, adjustable and not

Verdict

If this is a product you’d use, I would Try It.  It was an easy evening project that I think I’ll use a lot.  I had a few hiccups, but it came out alright in the end! 

3 comments:

  1. This is very cool! Still, I really liked my nursing cover because it had a metal hoop inside that held the cover open by my collar so I could still see the baby and he could get a little more air. I had summer babies so that was important. It also doubled as a burp cloth and sun shade. But I would definitely try this method too. Love your blog by the way :)

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  3. This is awesome! I have a piece of plain muslin that came in a pack of swaddle blankets. I was thinking of tie dying it so that it is not so see through and using it as a nursing cover (the ones in the stores seem like they could get hot for my little guy). But I couldn't figure out how to attach it to me so that he doesn't kick it off. I will definitely be doing this:) Thanks Laura!

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