The other day we were at the mall walking around and enjoying their A/C. I stepped into a Motherhood Maternity Outlet to check out their nursing wares. I’d heard really good things about their pull-down tanks and figured I’d check and see if they had any for a good price. (Honestly, I was mostly looking for things to prolong my stay in the overly air conditioned building.) The selection in my size was slim, unimpressive, and not any sort of deal. I was looking at some of the fun prints available in larger sizes and saw an XL tank at a severely discounted price. I thought to myself, “Man, it’s not fair that something made out of so much more fabric costs so much less.” So much more fabric. So much less. A light bulb went off in my brain. If I bought a tank top in my size I’d have to wear something with it for the sake of modesty, which would mean one more layer which is something I’m really not looking for at the moment. If I bought a tank top that was too big, It would cost less and I could use the extra fabric to make sleeves and avoid adding an additional sweaty layer. Brilliant.

The first thing I did was take up the neckline a little bit. I turned the tank inside out, pinned the shoulder straps together and took about 1/4″ seam. I then tried it on and decided the cut was satisfactory.

Next I turned the tank inside out and took a little off the side, making sure not to cut too much into the armpit since I still wanted to be able to get the thing on.

Then I folded the shirt in half so I could take the same amount off the other side. After that I pinned the sides together and sewed them from armpit to hem.

To make the sleeves I measured my arm and cut a rectangle that was the Width of My Arm X the Height of My Desired Sleeve. I rounded the edges off, folded the sleeve in half, matched it up right sides together to the shoulder seam on the shirt, pinned it and stitched it together. (Here’s a pretty good explanation of how to do a cap sleeve, although I didn’t ruffle mine and attached it a little different.) Voila, nursing tee!

I wore it to the park today and it was perfect for the 90 degree temperature. When it came time to feed Ellen I whipped out one of my swaddle blankets and tugged down my top. One of the other moms told me she’d never seen anyone look so elegant while breastfeeding. A true compliment indeed.