Feeding tops- a half-assed tutorial

This week has been terrible. I don't know why, but just terrible. Walking has become a monsterous challenge as Kick's head grinds and pushes on my pelvic floor (and it feels exactly as pleasant as it sounds) and my 'third trimester tiredness' I thought I was experiencing before now makes me laugh with derision. I had a doctor's appointment on Tuesday* and when my lovely doc asked me how I was, I did that trembly lip thing as I tried to be stoic about how things were, y'know, fine except for the pain and the swollen claw hands and the frequent night time waking and accompanying exhaustion and she was very sympathetic and told me it was, indeed, crap and it'd be over soon. Sadly she is too ethical to say 'we'll just induce you at 37 weeks and it'll all be over' and instead politely and with a great deal of care and concern told me to (wo)man up. I'm trying to drag myself out of this week's funk by focusing on the positives and staying busy-ish, especially as I keep reminding myself that I am SO lucky to be in this position.

So this week I made feeding tops to take to the hospital and for the first few weeks, as a couple of people have told me their biggest regret was not having enough. The thing with these tops is that they are super expensive in the shops for what is essentially a super cheap camisole, and given that I've mentioned my overwhelming cheapness and over-confidence in my own abilities a few times, you can bet this time was going to be no different.

The Half-Assed Feeding Top Tutorial

The Quick Summary

Time Taken- about half an hour each

Cups of Tea consumed- one per t-shirt

Total cost- $2.20-ish each

Skill level- absolutely none whatsoever

Baby Shower gift potential- em, probably not. Might be handy for someone you know well though!

Materials needed

A Camisole (or strappy vest top if you live in the UK...) I got mine in Forever 21 for $1.80 each on sale

Small Sew on Snaps or poppers** (from any sewing shop- I bought 36 for $3)

A needle, pair of sharp scissors and thread that matches the camisoles.

Something to watch on TV (this is not the most exciting or involved crafty make ever. I watched an episode of Poirot and 2 episodes of Masters of Sex on demand whilst I did mine...)

So instead of hundreds of steps and tons of information like the other tutorials I have done so far, this one will be short and sweet. 

Matching thread is your hero here. The pink one is just an example.

1- Cut the straps down really close to the bit where they meet the rest of the shirt at the front***

2- Sew a loop over the top of the frayed end, then keep sewing them until you reach the end, creating a nice smooth bit where you cut. This works best when the thread is the same colour and you can't see it.

3- Stitch your sew on snaps to either end of the strap, making sure that you remember to sew them on the right side of the strap.

4- There is no 4, you are done already.

Seriously, that's it. You now have some camisoles with straps that unfasten. Basically I plan to use these in much the same way as I use my super long H&M tanks now, for layering under my normal T-shirts. It means I can pull the normal t-shirt up, pop the strap on the one side of the vest top and have easy access without showing too much skin. I will be able to fill you in on the effectiveness of them in approximately 4 weeks time...

*I now have to go every.damn. week. This is too often. Honestly.

** I tried to use hook and eye and the half-swimsuit closings that you get on those multi-way bras, but ultimately I liked the little metal poppers best as I can open them with one fingernail and they felt more sturdy than the others. There were a TON of tutorials on making the ones with little loops to hang over your nursing bra instead of straps but I only have sports style nursing bras, so not very useful.

***The first shirt I made, I cut about an inch from the join and it just didn't work as well. Learn from my mistakes!