Christina here, just wanted to welcome Janda, the author of the guest post on converting a regular bra to a nursing bra, to our writing team.

I have a tall toddler and she is skinny. Whenever I buy her trousers, I look for long ones first. Then, sometimes I am lucky enough to find in some stores the ones with adjustable waistbands. But unfortunately not all brands has this. Some brands do incorporate the idea, but the elastic is too loose or soft. When I can, I simply pull the elastic out and replace it with a better quality. To make a waistband adjustable is more than possible though. Here’s how:

You will need:

• A pair of trousers
• A piece of 2.5cm wide bias binding*, cotton tape** or ribbon*** the same length as width of trousers waistband. I used homemade bias binding.
• A piece of elastic with buttonholes**** the same length as the width of the trousers waistband – these normally come in about 18mm width and is available from craft stores. If the elastic is wider, make sure the ribbon is at least 5mm wider.
• 2x 1.5cm diameter buttons. (flat ones)
• Sewing thread and needle
• Pins
• A large safety pin

How to:

• Stretch the waistband of the trousers, if it is already elasticated, over something sturdy. An ironing board works well.
• Fold the one end of the ribbon o/a 5mm over and fold it over again. I always use a double thread to ensure strength. Sew the ribbon (o/a) in place so it doesn’t fray later.
• Start pinning the ribbon (o/a) to the inside of the waistband from about 7cm from the front and around the back until you reach about 7cm from the other end of the waistband.
• Fold the other end of the ribbon (o/a) 5mm over and fold it over again. Sew this in place. Be careful not to sew it to the trousers.
• Sew the one long side of the ribbon (o/a) to the top of the waistband with small overhand stitches. Take care to finish ends securely with at least 4 stitches over each other and that stitches doesn’t show on right side.
• Make sure the ribbon lay smooth over the waistband and sew the other long side of the ribbon to the waistband. Again, take great care to finish beginning and end securely. Remove all pins.
• Sew a button to the waistband just next to the ribbon’s ends.
• Fold the end of the elastic over same as ribbon and finish.
• Sew this end of elastic securely to inside of waistband about 4cm away from centre front.
• Attach safety pin to other end of elastic and push through sleeve made with ribbon. Let the elastic lay loosely and flat in sleeve. Make sure there are no twists in elastic.
• Cut excess elastic off about 4cm beyond end of sleeve.
• Fold the end of the elastic over same as ribbon and finish
• Sew this end of elastic securely to inside of waistband closer 4cm away from centre front.
• Sew the elastic through the ribbon to the centre back of the waistband with a couple of stitches. This keep elastic from twisting

It is now possible to pull the elastic as tight as needed and button in place so the trousers don’t fall down any more.

If you have access to a sewing machine, you could do some of the work with it, but this isn’t a big job and can look less visible if done by hand. A nice little job to do after little ones go to bed.

* Fabric cut on a 45 degree against the straight edges of woven fabric. Long edges folded over 5mm and ironed in place
** Woven cotton band with self-finished long edges
*** Satin ribbon – take care that it is soft and not too thick so it interfere with the work of the elastic
**** Elastic with button holes is generally available from good craft stores. This can be imitated by stretching two lengths of 8mmwide elastic next to each other and sewing them together so they don’t overlap. Sew 3cm and finish well. Leave a gap of 2cm to use as a button hole, then sew together again – finishing beginning and end securely.

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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

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