cutting holes or slits in an undertank for nursing

[happeeevraftr]

I bought 3 long tank tops to wear under my regular shirts and I want to cut holes or slits in them so I can lift up my shirt to nurse and still have the tank top covering me underneath. Has anyone done this? I'm wondering what the best way is to cut. Maybe this isn't the right forum, since I don't plan on sewing anything. The tank is knit, so I don't think it will fray, right? And it's just to wear as an undershirt, so I don't care what it looks like. I'm just worried about the lower fabric sagging or something.

Would you recommend just cutting two holes? Or would slits be better? And if slits, which way? Vertical, horizontal, diagonal? I was thinking if slits, maybe going along the underwire line or something? But holes would probably be easier to deal with, since I'll still have to get my bra out of the way (don't have a nursing bra, but a front opening demi-bra that is easy enough to just push out of the way, or even unhook if I have to. Do you see any potential problems with holes?

The shirts were only $4, so maybe I'll just try it on one and see. But if anyone's had experience, I'd love to hear it first.

[E.V. Lowi]

It's really sad that in our culture that you have to find ingenious ways to cover yourself!
I think that if you slit the shirt in the vertical direction instead of horizontal, or around the body, you should have better luck with raveling or fraying. The longwise cut slits will tend to stay closed instead of drooping open like they would if cut across the goods. Try to cut along th knitted grain for best results. A small amount of "Fraycheck" should help support the slit without sewing. HTH!

[srain]

Originally Posted by E.V. Lowi

It's really sad that in our culture that you have to find ingenious ways to cover yourself!

Some of us live in cold climates- I did this to keep from getting chilled, especially when nursing outdoors!

Anyway, I cut round holes in a ribbed-knit tank top and a microfiber tank top right where the nipple hit. I didn't wear a bra with them, though; that would definitely make a difference- I'd have needed more space to pull a bra out of the way. There was no fraying problem.

One tank top, actually, was the kind with a built-in shelf bra. I wore it inside out, so the shelf bra was on the outside, and left that part whole, but cut holes underneath it through the regular tank-top material. That way I could just pull the bra part up and get to the holes, but still have my stomach covered. (This was only used as an undershirt, so I didn't get strange looks. )

[morningloria]

i've done this with my husband's undershirts. I live in the Northeast, and I understand completely. There's nothing like a 20-degree breeze on your belly to motivate you to get creative.

I cut vertical slits in the shirts. They're just hanes undershirts, and they got a bit raggedy, but they did the trick in terms of providing a barrier between my belly and the cold. Another thing I did was go to thrift stores and found a few tube tops and I wore them just below my breasts. I think this is marketed as the "bella band", but I was unwilling to pay so much money for a piece of cotton spandex.

[E.V. Lowi]

I am so happy to hear that breast feeding in public has become so acceptable, as it should be. I am glad that it is no longer necessary to cover up for the purpose of modesty, but only because of the chill factor.