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Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Nursing cover and baby nighties

I loved this fabric!

I need something for nursing Sophia while at Church and other public places.  My dear sister-in-law had a really cool cover that she uses and I have seen other ladies at church with them.  I found this great tutorial at Sew-Much-Ado to make my own nursing cover.  This way I could pick the fabric and add conveniences - - like a pocket for items that I may need - - prayer cards, a rosary, a burp rag, whatever.   I have enough fabric left over that I may make Sophia a pair of soft shoes, using Michelle's pattern and tutorial found here.


I have also found that nothing quite beats those newborn gowns for nighttime diaper changes.  Unfortunately, they only come in newborn, 0-3 month sizes (as far as I can tell!).  I found some suggestions on line for making these or similar ones.  I decided that I would use a onesie as the base for the nightie.  I cut off the bottom portion (who wants to deal with snaps in the middle of the night?) and serged the bottom edge.


I cut a piece of baby jersey material (about 32 inches x 18 inches - - you may need more for larger babies) and serged what would be the top edge and down the side seam (matching the two short edges together). 
I put in a basting stitch along the serged edge so that I could gather the material to make it match the onesie. 








Matching the side seam with one of the side seams on the onesie, I pinned the sides and then gathered, evening the gathers out on front and back and pinning as I went. 







Then I sewed around , flipped the garment right side out and stitched along the bottom of the onesie part, catching both fabrics.  Then I stitched a casing for elastic at the bottom.  Lastly, I threaded the elastic through the casing, stitched the elastic, and casing closed.  Done! 

It's not perfect, but okay enough for sleepwear and my first one.  I want to find long-sleeved onesies and do some more for colder weather.  I will also make the jersey skirt longer, as Sophia has only a few inches until her feet stick out.
Sophia in the new nightie!