Nursing top--with TUTE!

[mamaggb]

I've lurked here for awhile but I haven't seen anything quite like this, so I thought I'd give this tutorial thing a try.  Many thanks to the rostitchery tutorials ([urlhttp://rowena.typepad.com/rostitchery/techniques/index.html[/url] )for inspiration 

Tonight I turned these



into this nursing top:


Sorry about the flash and crummy pic. Here's a pic showing the nursing opening (you pull the top part up and bottom part down):


Here's how I did it:

I started out with the two shirts and seam ripped them up both sides all the way to the armpit.

Then I cut the flowered one across from armpit to armpit to make a rectangle. In the pic, you'll see I actually made a little divot in the middle of the top so it wouldn't show under the deep v of the top part.

Then I gathered the entire top of the of long sleeve tee in the middle and used one of the straps from the tank to secure it:
 
Note: this made for a lot of fabric over the chest. Next time, I think I will cut about 1/3 of the fabric off the bottom of the orange tee, rehem the bottom, and then do the gathering. 

Next I gathered the edges of the top tee so they reached about halfway down the back and basted them to the back of the long sleeve tee. Here's a pic of my pinning for basting

and one of me trying it on over a different tank to see how it fit (this would be where I should have noticed that even my giant nursing boobs are no where near a size 44EEE so I probably should have used less fabric -LOL)


Going back to the flowered tank rectangle, I attached a piece of 1/4" elastic across the top, stretching slightly. Ignore the horrendous sewing job 


Finally, I sewed the flowered rectangle onto my orange tee (orange tee was turned inside out):

Done! I'm not sure that I like the two different fabrics...I think I might like it better with two matched shirts, but this is what I had lying around and I thought it would make it easier to explain the process.

Note: if you don't like the gathered top, you could also just cut off about the bottom third of the top shirt, resew that hem, and then sew the underlayer on as above.  It would make a Boob-style top like the one shown here: http://www.duematernity.com/bovrinutop.html.

[wanna-be-goddess]

what a great looking and completely functional top. love it!

[aplaceinthefrog]

great job! I think with using the two different tops it looks like you're wearing a shrug. It's so cute that I want to make a top like that just for fun since I don't currently need a top with nursing access.

[tortilladesigns]

I am sitting home laughing right now.  I'm a nurse, so I thought it was a recon of scrub tops or t-shirts into scrubs.  How funny...I was looking at the pic and thinking I couldn't wear that to work.  Then I read the description and realized it was for baby nursing!  Great job by the way!

[Maajo]

Wow! Now I have like million ideas on my head...  You used only one rectangle from the flower-top, am I right?   

[mamaggb]

Wow! Now I have like million ideas on my head...  You used only one rectangle from the flower-top, am I right?   

Yep, one rectangle.  And one strap    And hey, share some of those ideas...one nursing top does not a wardrobe make!

[shayneblate08]

that's so inventive, what a great idea.

[Maajo]

Sorry, I have to disappoint you, but I don´t have any NEW ideas . Just thinking what I have in my closet.  But you know: this rocks! 

[doityourselflearner]

I know this is old post and I was looking for ideas for nursing top.  Thank you so much for sharing this pics and tut.  One more inventive ideas I want to try~!  It looks a little difficult for my skill but def. want to try.

[ClonedBravo]

I just made one in blue!