Breastfeeding/Lactation Consultant

Anybody sew? Pretty pattern you can turn into a nursing blouse <m>

Don't know if any of you sew.

I've been sewing for about 35 years, so I look for this sort of thing...

I fell in love with the McCall's 3722 blouse pattern.

Check it out by typing "3722" in at

http://www.sewing-patterns.com/index-mccalls.html

Anyway, I just made this pattern - with "a few" changes, LOL as a nursing top. It was rather easy, and it came out really pretty.

What I did.... First I bought the pattern when JoAnn Fabrics had McCalls patterns on sale (which they do every couple weeks/months), for $1 instead of $14.95, LOL. And some really pretty fabric from the buck-a-yard bin at Wal-Mart.

Next, I don't do front-button things, (big boobs make big gaps) so I reversed it, cut the front panel on the fold & the back panel not on the fold, & made it open in back just at the neck (single snap at the neck). You could make a nursing shirt either way, I just know better than to expect any front button shirt to close or look good over the ol' DDs, LOL.

I did a ruffle almost as wide as the widest one they show, and left nursing openings under the ruffle between the side front & the front panel. I put a snap there - you could use hooks or velcro or even a zipper I guess, but the snaps seem to work nicely for me. You can finish the openings by serging, with bias tape, with twill tape, by cutting a little extra & rolling it, or with just a nice zigzag. I sewed the seam from the top down & from the bottom up, leaving a gap bigger than what I thought I'd need. I basted that opening, finished the rest of the shirt, then figured out what I actually needed for the openings & finished them.

More changes - I didn't like any of the sleeve options, so I just made the short sleeves into elbow length sleeves, and no poofy sleeve heads. I also didn't like the necklines, so I just bias-bound the neck opening into a simple jewel neck.

Anyway, it came out really pretty. If any of you sew, this is a great pattern to mess with - classic princess seaming, and the ruffle options practically beg you to male them into a nursing shirt, LOL. If & when i ever give up the dairy business I'll just take the snaps off, sew the slits shut & have a pretty top.

Cheers,

Sharon

Sorry - you have to click on "tops' to get to the search. Blasted web. <n/t>

OK, can I pick your brain a little? I alter patterns to make nursingwear, too (m)

I also did something similar with a top with a row of tucks. I just hid a nursing slit back in one of the folds. Just saw something similar in the new Motherwear catalog! :o) Refreshing change. . .I usually look there for ideas, then go hunting fabrics and patterns to re-create their concepts!

Glad to know I'm not the only one who has to tweak every pattern to get what I want! My mom's influence. . .I don't think she's ever made a pattern as published in her life! You should have seen my wedding dress. . .bodice from one pattern, waistline style from another, sleeves from another, train from another, neckline from another. . .gosh, we should have just started with blank tissue paper, for all the re-drawing we did! LOL But it turned out very elegant, and fit like a dream!

How's your "racing stripe?" Hope the irritation is fading!

Booker

"If ya pick it it will never heal" LOL <m>

To be honest, I made it, threw it into the laundry & it hasn't emerged yet.

The fabric is REALLY lightweight, so I think a snap or two should hold it - and yes, you betcha that's what the ruffle is for, LOL. Time will tell. I actually attached the top part of the snap to the ruffle to encourage the lie of the fabric too.

I think you need much more "supplementary" overlap coverage with heavier fabric, or a skirt, or, or, or. This fabric is too light to accommodate it, but on a heavier knot, I've seen zippers used to great (and secure) effect.

I left about an inch or so extra on the side front panels as "underlap" in the critical zone, and I sewed that inch across at top & bottom of the opening to try & encourage the flap to lay right. I may end up adding another snap, or (or, or, or, LOL) something - or I may not. Gotta wear it a bit more than I have to really road-test it.

My (O)(O) are more like < > and I am broad shouldrered, so the "center slit" style REALLY doesn't work for me. I love what you can do with princess seamed stuff - and I really can't remember when I made a pattern the way the company intended. Didja know you can get a great Greek cassock beginning with Simplicity's Civil War General costume? I've got a nursing jumper planned - gonna do a quilt square on the front of it, but more ot the point, I'm using the bodice from one pattern & the skirt from another, and ain't gonna use the zipper either of them call for - I want buttons up the side to access the ol' boobs. Patterns are there to give you the general lines & the sleeve fit, but they're just a starting point - especially if you aren't built like a model - or if you have ideas of your own.

Back last fall I retrofitted a T-shirt, put 3 Ohio Star quilt squares across the front to conceal the snap tape, and made the bottom of the front into a snap-out section. Works nicely - and you could just use wide trim instead of quilt squares if you were not inclined to do silly things like I was...

Hope this is responsive, LOL!

The racing stripe is doing OK. It gets kinda sensitive now & then, but all things considered, it's cool.

Hugs,

Sharon

Thanks (I think? LOL) Let me know how it is with a little more road-testing! (m)

Anyhoo, haven't done much nursing sewing lately. . .last effort was when I bought two identical shirts really cheap at Sam's, and combined them to make a cropped-style nursing shirt. Really easy! I also converted some faux-twinsets to nursing shirts in about 5 minutes. My sister was impressed! LOL

Booker