Nursing Cloth

Hooter Hider

This weekend, I made the trek back to Michigan (again) for a shower (again). This time, it was my sister's first baby shower! HOORAY! It was a beautiful (albeit hot) day. Our family, family friends, and my sister's friends all gathered together to celebrate my beautiful (and adorably pregnant) sister and the precious little babe growing inside her. It was a wonderful afternoon.

At the same time this shower was going on, Jeremy's buddies were celebrating his bachelor party at our apartment. The weekend (I'm sure) was full of beers, boys, and burping. Jeremy says he had a great time. He spent most of the day of the couch yesterday, so I'm inclined to believe him.

Since my home was inundated with boys, I spent the weekend with my sister and her fiance. It was great to spend time with them. Even though we now live in the same city, we are all so busy, I feel like I rarely get time to spend relaxing with them.

And at some point this weekend, I thought, for maybe the hundredth time in the past month, how lucky and blessed we (Jer & I, my sis & I, or just I) are to have so many wonderful things happening in our lives and so many wonderful people who are so happy for us and enjoy sharing them with us. 

Anyway...I am LOVING that I can create some gifts for my sister/baby. Before I get to what I created this week, I want to shout out to a few Etsy shops that I bought from. These ladies do GREAT work and my gifts from these shops were a big hit. 

My mom always took pictures of my sis and I when we were babies on each month birthday. I decided to buy some iron on decals for my sister. Amy at Amy Leigh Designs custom made a set of gender neutral numbers for me. I also bought my sister some white onesies to iron them onto.

I also ordered from one of my favorite bloggers, Nici, at Dig This Chick. She also has an  Etsy shop in which she makes custom shirts and onesies with whatever geological applique you choose. My sister's fiance is from the Seychelle Islands, so I chose that. It turned out great!

Finally, my sister plans on breast feeding. She had a nursing cloth, or "hooter hider", as she calls it, on her registery. I decided that I could make one just as easily as I could buy one, so I tried my hand at it. I looked up a few different designs. Here's what I came up with.

First, gather some materials. For each Hooter Hider.

• 1 yard pre-washed fabric
• 2 D-rings  
• 14 inches of boning

 

Next, cut the fabric into 3 pieces.

• 38in.x26in. for the body
• 3in.x10in. for the short strap
• 3 in.x30in for the long strap 

Iron the two straps. Then, fold them, hotdog style, so that the right sides are in.

Then, sew the edges together. Sew it as close to the the edge as possible. Do this with the long and short strap.

 Turn the strap right side out.
 

Then iron so that the seam is in the middle of the bottom side of the strap.

On the long strap, fold over one side a 1/4 of an inch, iron, then fold over another 1/4 inch. Sew close the edge where the folded part and the rest of the strap come together.

On the short side, fold over one edge a 1/4 inch. Iron, then place both D-rings on the strap. Fold over again. Then pin them in place. Sew closed. Sew over several times, as this will have a lot of pressure on it.

Next,fold the bottom over about a half inch. Iron, and fold over another half inch. All of your rough edges should be gone. Sew along the edge where the fold meets the rest of the fabric.


Repeat with both sides.

(NOTE the top & bottom are the long sides. I made mistake. Don't repeat it)

 For the top edge, fold over a half inch, then iron. Next, fold in half to find the middle. Measure 7 inch out from each side. Mark with pins. Fold over 1 inch. Sew from pin to pin. Then, place the boning inside, so that it is curving towards the outside of the fabric. Sew the fabric on either side of the boning, to close the opening and trap the boning inside.

Next, place the unsewn side of each strap inside the fold of the body, right next to the boning, facing towards the body of the fabric. The side without the seam should be up.

Then, flip the straps so that they are facing away from the body of the fabric. Pin them in place. Sew from the outside each side of the fabric to the boning. Then sew a square around each strap to hold it in place.  

Ta-Da, your finished product!

I tried making the white cloth first, but made it longer than it was wide. This hooter hider can only hide about one hooter at a time. The green works much better, since it is wider than it is long.

Well, I'm off to another busy week, followed by a nice long weekend!

Until next time, keep crafting!

SB