MacGyvering a nursing top with overall fasteners...

[Smokering]

So I'm sick of wearing button-down tops. I was thinking I could use the claspy things off an old pair of overalls to make a "nursing bra"-type top - as in, unhook one side and pull the fabric under the breast to nurse. But the... rivet?... things on the overall bib aren't sewn on or anything, they seem to have been pushed or hammered through the fabric. Can I remove them somehow and reuse them, or do I need to buy new... thingies?

Also, any other ideas for nursing tops and dresses? My wardrobe seriously needs a revamp and I figure I'll be gestating or lactating for the foreseeable decades, so I may as well make everything nursing-friendly. I'm into steampunk... I'm also pretty new at sewing. And I miss wearing dresses (do you know how hard it is to find nursing-friendly dresses that aren't just super low-cut, which I don't like? HARD. I have one... and it barely "works").

I was thinking, a dress with pin tucks down each side of the bodice could conceal invisible zips for nursing slits, right? Can a zip be enclosed at the top (ie appear halfway down a seam, not at the top of a seam)? Is there any way to sew a zip on a curve, so I could hide it under the frill of a yoke? Are there any good, versatile nursing top/dress patterns out there that don't look hideous? WHY are they do hard to find???

[orangefoot]

Ah lots of questions!

You would need new rivets to hook your overall clips onto - or you could use buttons?

Have you thought about wrap tops? or customising t-shirts?

I am only a 36A when breastfeeding so this may not suit you but I had several wrap over tops which I wore with a vest (tank?) underneath so I could pull the tank up and pull the wrap across iyswim.

For zips I think invisible zips will be your friend. They are a bit more flexible than ordinary zips ime.

Have a look at the tutorials list here and also this one which isn't in the list for some customising ideas which don't use any difficult sewing techniques.

[Smokering]

Ooh, I like that twist top! In theory I cold make it with a higher neckline, right? I don't usually sew with knits, but I should get over it and learn. (I should also get over it and learn how to do sleeves, zippers and buttonholes... and drive a car... and do my taxes. But, you know.)

I'm fairly small-busted as well, Bish, so wraparound might work, but I'm trying to avoid layers - it's coming into summer here. And I just had a bad experience making a wraparound top for the baby (dashiki sleeves aren't as good an idea as they think they are!). But we'll see how desperate I get. Mum says the pin tucks thing could work for concealing invisible zips, so I'm trying to design myself a cute grey dress with a cinched-in waist. Why I have to design it myself when I have no experience designing things and no drafting or draping skills, instead of buying a pattern like a sane person, I do not know. But there it is.

[doubledutch]

for summer, i'd go with a tank/cami and skirt, with a light-weight shirt over the top. pull shirt up, pull tank down. or a single layer (tank and skirt or tank dress / lowcut dress) with a light gauzy scarf for some modesty while nursing. you know - just to tide you over until you finish that amazing, pin-tucked, cinch-waisted grey dress. it does sound awesome. i would want one!

actually, i remember a picture of kate moss in vogue or bazaar in the mid 90s with a t-shirt on that had a horizontal zippered opening across the bust. not for nursing, just for flashing i guess, but anyway

[Smokering]

Well, here's my first attempt!

Punk Nursing Dress

[orangefoot]

Wow! Very nice work! I bet you don't want to take it off now do you?

Where are you that you can be bare-armed in December? I'm freezing and damp here

[Smokering]

Heh... New Zealand. It's summer. Far too hot.