The answer is not blowing in the wind - Pram storage cover

It's been really windy here in Melbourne and a couple of times we have been out walking with the pram and had a gust of wind blow things out from the storage basket below. The last straw for me was when the hug-a-bub was ousted and lost by a gust of wind, unbeknownst to me until I arrived home =(

They say necessity is the mother of invention and I needed something that would stop the wind from getting the best of my storage and so my pram storage cover was born.

What You Need:

• 2 Pieces of material 70cm x 60cm - I used a cotton drill for the top and thick black cotton for the underside 
• 1 piece of medium weight, fusible interfacing 70cm x 60cm
• 90cm 5mm elastic
• 4 x 3cm toggle buttons  (like those on duffel jacket)

Instructions - Marking out the pattern

1.  Iron the interfacing to the material you want as the top of your cover.
2.  Fold each piece of material in half along the longest edge. You should end up with a piece that is 35cm x 60cm when it is folded.
   
3. From the top of the fabric measure 36cm down and rule a horizontal line across the fabric and another line 49cm from the top.
   
4. At the top of the fabric from the fold measure 19cm (point A).
5. Along the second line (36cm down) measure 19cm from the fold (point B) and 27cm from the fold (point C).
6. Along the third line (49cm down) measure 23cm from the fold (point D).
7. Now draw a diagonal line from point A to point C; and another line from point B to point D. This is the basic pattern.
   
8. Mark in at the base 5cm in from the fold - this is the opening you will need to turn your fabric right side out
9. Mark in 7cm up from the base along the diagonal as this is where you will place one set of elastics
10. Mark in 10cm from the fold at the top - this is where another set of elastics will be placed.
11. Mark in your 2cm seam allowance.
    
12. Cut out the pattern.

Instructions - Sewing up the pattern

1. Open up your fabric.
2. Line up your pieces right sides together and pin.
3. Cut your elastic into 4 even pieces (cut in half and then each half in half again).
4. Fold over each piece of elastic, insert where marked between the top and bottom fabrics and pin.
5. Begin sewing from one end of the opening, around and finish at the other end; reinforcing at the elastics with back stitch.
6. Snip off the excess fabric at each of the corners.
   
7. Turn your sewn fabric right side out and iron.
8. Top stitch 0.5cm from the edge.
9. Mark in placement for your toggles 1cm from each of the corners (see picture) and attach your toggles.
   
10. You now have a completed cover for your storage compartment.

Tight arse Breastfeeding top

Today I made myself some breastfeeding tops - no sewing required and at a fraction of the cost.

Many before me will have been faced with this dilemma: the need for tops that you can breastfeed in but without having to invest lots of $$.

I'm a bit of a tight arse and have been looking for tops but they all seem rather pricey, added to that I have some great tops in my wardrobe that I love, but aren't really practical for breastfeeding. So, I decided I would make myself some tightarse breastfeeding tops that would allow me to wear my existing wardrobe. After looking at a few tops I figured that really all I needed was some tops with some openings to access my boobs that I could wear underneath an existing top.

Here's how I did it, it really couldn't be simpler, and only cost me $9 per top (instead of $30 and up for a breastfeeding top):
Step 1: Get yourself a top. It's cold here so I've used some long sleeved tops but you could quite easily do this with t-shirts or singlet tops.

Step 2: Work out where to position the holes. I put the top on and then with a pen marked where the middle of my boob was.

Step 3: Get something round that you can trace around. I used something that was about 6cm in diameter - as the top is stretchy you'll find when you put the top on that the hole will stretch as well. FYI I'm a DD cup. I suspect the size of hole may vary depending on how big your boobs are. If in doubt start small and work your way up.

Step 4: Mark the circles on your top. I used the marks in Step 2 as the centre, then measured 3cm either side and above and below the centre, then place my cup over the top and traced around.

Step 5: Cut out the circles.

Step 6 (optional): You shouldn't need to sew as t-shirt material won't fray but if you want a better finish you could zig-zag around, hem or use some sort of binding to finish the edges.

You can then wear this top, as pictured underneath your existing clothes. Voila - tight arse breastfeeding top.