Nursing Cover

I had a baby shower this weekend to go to, so I decided to make her a nursing cover and a sling (pouch) but I'll show that later on. This is the nursing cover, a.k.a. "the hooter hider." It is so simple to make and is just a life-saver sometimes.

This is just two pieces of material 25" x 33", a 12" piece of plastic boning, a 6" x 6" pocket and then 20" strap for neck. You sew the pocket on to back side.

Make the casing for the strip, turn it inside out and sew it on to the right side of the front fabric piece.

Then sew the two big pieces right sides together, make sure the strap edges are in the middle and not stuck in the edge somewhere. Sew the bottom three edges, leaving a space to pull it all all through in.

Then with the top edges, fold them over about a 1". Slide the boning through the hole. Find the exact middle. And then stitch the edges of the boning in place & stitch along the very edge of the boning all long the top to secure it in place.

Turn it inside out through the hole. Then top stitch all around the cover and Voila... you're done! I know... the directions are probably confusing. I didn't take pictures as I made it... and I should have. If any of you have any questions, just ask... I'll try to explain better. But really it didn't take me more than an hour to make.

Here is the front of the cover. Remember, you can do the neck strap different ways. You can just tie it together, use velcro, use D-rings... whatever you come up with. This is just the easiest for me. You just slip it on and off.


Here is the back of the cover, I made it out of corduroy.


Here is the little pocket I put in the inside of the cover. You can put a cloth for wiping the baby's face, spills, put binkies, keys, toys, whatever you need to here. A lot of people make this pocket out of terry cloth, so it is a towel in itself. I just wanted to match the pocket with the front... so I didn't do that.


And of course, here is the matching card. I covered it completely in fabric and stitched around the edges. (I used a manila folder for my base.) Then I added a rub on, "Love at first sight" --pretty applicable for having a baby, right? Then a final bow stitched for for the finishing touch.