How to make a regular bra into a nursing bra

Have you had difficulty finding a nursing bra that fits or that fits into your budget?

Here is a guest post from Janda, a friend of mine who is a seamstress.  After being frustrated with not finding a single nursing bra that fit me well (I went through dozens and not all were returnable), I asked her to convert my old Victoria’s Secret Body by Victoria bras into nursing bras.They fit much better and were much more supportive than any nursing bra I’d tried by far.  I’m lucky that a year after giving birth (that is, a year into nursing), my breast size had stabilized, in fact, I was back to my pre-pregnancy size and could save money using my old bras.

This conversion will work on new bras as well, if you’re a new size and can’t find a well-fitting nursing bra, or have found a regular bra that fits well and is much cheaper than a nursing bra. Just make sure you have a well-fitting bra, wearing a bra that does not fit well could lead to mastitis or clogged ducts.  If using an underwire bra, please be sure that the underwire does not ever sit on the breast.  You should also wait until your size stabilizes (if it ever does) to wear underwire bras while breastfeeding.  In general, I wouldn’t really recommend them before 6 months post-partem, but you know yourself best.  For help with understanding bra fit, I recommend BraStopShop’s Bra Fitting Guide: The Perfect Fit Video or The Do-It-Yourself Bra Fitting Guide on Knickers Blog.

Clicking on any of the photos will give you an enlarged view. Now here’s Janda to explain how you can save money by converting a regular bra into a nursing bra:

Converting a normal bra to nursing bra!

Notes: If you plan to change your normal bra to a nursing bra, make sure you have a good fit. Make sure the bra sits comfortably around your ribs and over your shoulders. The bra should not dig in anywhere, especially under your arms or under your breasts. If you want to use a bra with wires, make sure the wires sit comfortably over your ribs and do not ride up on your breast. This is very important. There is no concrete proof that you should not wear a wired bra whilst breastfeeding, but an ill-fitting wired bra could cause a lot of discomfort. Wired could actually be more comfortable if it sits the way it should and if you are used to wearing one.

You will need:

• A normal bra with space on the shoulder straps to extend the length at least 2cm. The strap could get slightly shorter as you are cutting it and folding it over.
• 2 large hooks and eyes, as close as possible to the same width of the bra strap. There are metal ones on the market that works great. If you can find plastic ones, great! (Note from Christina: I found a great site that sells plastic nursing bra clasps, Sew Sassy Fabrics. They come in white, black and clear and the company ships worldwide. I already purchased a bunch in preparation for converting regular bras to nursing bras after I give birth in June 2010.)
• Matching cotton thread.
• A long, thin sewing needle.
• About 2x 30cm of satin ribbon, matching the bra in colour but also matching the width of the bra strap. If you cannot find any, make the ribbon from a piece of matching fabric. Make sure you get something soft and thin. Satin is smooth against the skin and does not rub.  Here’s how to make the ribbon:

1. Cut 2 strips of fabric 3x the width of the bra shoulder strap and about 30 cm long. If you can, cut on the bias - this allows a little more “movement”
2. Fold each in half along the length of the strip.
3. Sew along the raw edge, creating a “tube”. You should be able to push the bra strap into the tube if it is a elastic strap, not too loosely… (an indication that you have the correct width)
4. Turn the tubes inside out by attaching a safety pin to the end of one layer of your tube and push the safety pin “blind” through the tube till it comes out on the other side.
5. Iron the tube flat.
6. If you do use this method with a flat elastic bra strap, you could follow first method - using “tube”- like straps.

You could also use some beads to sew a little chain (about 3cm long) to the hook on both sides. Put the chain on the outside (on top) of the strap when you refasten to remind you which breast you last fed from. Make sure you use a triple thread at least, so the chain doesn’t break easily.

How to make the conversion:

Cut the bra strap off just above the joint of the cup (front) and the strap, about 1cm away from the cup. If there is some stitching that you can easily undo, do that instead, using a seam ripper.

If the strap is “like a tube” when you press it from the sides:  (method 1)

1. Try to push about 5mm of the strap into the tube - hiding the raw edge.
2. Push the end of a ribbon into the tube and sew securely in place. If you can, you could also hide the loop’s “back end” inside the tube. Be sure to sew in place very securely with small stitches



3. Sew the eye of the hook and eye to the joint in the shoulder strap, so the eye is towards the attachment.
4. Push the raw edge of the cup-end of the shoulder strap 5mm into the “tube” coming from the cup, sew in place.
5. Sew the hook securely to the cup-end of the strap, making sure the hook faces up and towards the body.
6. Hook the hook into the eye. You could pin the ribbon to the cup just below the hook, just to keep it in place for a bit.
7. Turn the cup inside out and stretch over your knee or something round to take the form it would when you are wearing it.
8. Pull the loose end of the ribbon loosely towards the bottom of the cup. About a 1/4th of the way from the “underarm position. This extension to the strap will help keep the bra’s shoulder strap over your shoulder whilst feeding.
9. Attach the ribbon securely to the seam or elastic passing under the bust. Trim off excess ribbon and finish neatly.
10. Follow the same steps with the other side.

If you just have a flat elastic shoulder strap:  (method 2)

1. Put the end of the ribbon on the end of the shoulder strap, with the ribbon on the “nice side” of the strap. Let the ribbon overlap about 2cm. Sew the ribbon to the strap about 1 cm from the raw edge of the shoulder strap.
2. Fold the overlapping ribbon 5mm to the inside. Then fold it again over the raw edge of the bra strap. You want it to form a little pouch for the edge of the elastic. Sew in place with small stitches.
3. You could also make a similar “cover” for the cup-end of the strap.
4. Sew the hook securely to the cup-end of the strap, making sure the hook faces up and towards the body.
5. Hook the hook into the eye. You could pin the ribbon to the cup just below the hook.
6. Turn the cup inside out and stretch over your knee or something round to take the form it would when you are wearing it.



7. Pull the loose end of the ribbon loosely towards the bottom of the cup. About a 1/4th of the way from the “underarm position. This extension to the strap will help keep the bra’s shoulder strap over your shoulder whilst feeding.
8. Attach the ribbon securely to the seam or elastic passing under the bust. Trim off excess ribbon and finish neatly.
9. Follow the same steps with the other side.

Visit this month’s other Carnival of Breastfeeding participants:

• Motherwear’s Breastfeeding Blog gives home remedies for common breastfeeding problems - many of which you’ll find in your kitchen
• Hobo Mama lists money saving ideas for the budget-conscious nursing mother
• Milk Act blogs about how breastfeeding taught her to live a more frugal life
• Blacktating provides links to breastfeeding-related DIY projects
• Breastfeeding123 gives a recipe for making Pedialyte alternative at home
• ZenMommy discusses how nursing has saved her money
• Breastfeeding Mums shares money-saving alternative uses for breastmilk

You may also be interested in reading:

• Victoria’s Secret has nursing bras (18)
• Too wide waistbands? Make them fit! (3)
• Review: Nursing Bras (7)
• Monsters, Monsters, Everywhere! (1)
• The Bottle of My Dreams (3)

Tagged as: bra conversion, bra fit, Bras, brassiere, brassiere designs, Breastfeeding, breastfeeding bra, DIY, Hacks, nursing bras