Step One: Pick your pattern

Need to sew some breastfeeding clothing? Here's how to make a variety of styles using one t-shirt pattern.

First you'll need to start with a pattern that fits you. If you don't have a pattern that fits yet, measure yourself and measure some of your existing shirts and dresses to see how much ease you like in your clothes. Now you can search for a pattern that will fit the way you want it to fit. Some pattern manufacturers include the finished measurements at the bust and hips on the back of the pattern envelope. Others include it on the pattern instruction sheet. Some brands are roomier than others, so it pays to find this information. If you're frustrated with regular patterns, I highly recommend Wild Ginger's pattern drafting software. Their Click & Sew line is inexpensive at around $20.00 for a few different styles and you get a pattern drafted for your body. My bust is huge and fitting has always been difficult for me, so this is the route I go.

So let's assume you have your t-shirt pattern. Now to make it nursing accessible:

You need to mark your bust point on the pattern (You may want to trace a copy of your original pattern because we are going to draw lines all over it. If your pattern was from a 99-cent sale, you may not care.). I did this using the highly technical method of holding the pattern up to my body and lining up the center front with my center front. Put a little X or something on the bust point. Great! Your pattern should look something like this:

Now that your bust point is on the pattern piece, you can design your opening. Choose from crop, vertical or a mock twinset style.