DIY Nursing Cover Tutorial

This DIY nursing cover tutorial is simpler than you think and really fun to make and give as gifts to the new moms in your life.

So my friend Anna is having her second baby. This is shocking to me as we had our first babies a few weeks apart and I cannot fathom having two now, but anyway, she wants a nursing cover. So I made her one. And then I made you this DIY nursing cover tutorial.

Purchasing one of these things pre-made is outrageously expensive considering how simple they are to make. Learn how to make your own with this DIY nursing cover tutorial below…

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. 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!

Now that you’ve completed our DIY Nursing Cover tutorial, check out more of our fun sewing tutorials here.

by Jaime