DIY A Nursing/Pumping Bra That Actually Fits AND Makes You Feel Beautiful
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Step 3: Remove the Existing Strap Hardware
If you look just above the cup of the bra, you should see a little piece of metal or plastic hardware that connects the strap to the cup. We need to replace that hardware with our nursing bra clip!
First, locate the adjustment slider on your strap. This is the thing that allows you to make the straps longer or shorter. Underneath that slider, you should find a small seam (like the one in the photo below) that attaches the end of the strap to the slider. Use your seam ripper or your manicure scissors to rip out the seam.
Once that seam is removed and all threads are discarded (ripping can get messy!), pull the end of the strap out of the slider clip. Once separated from the slider, pull the strap out of the hardware piece attaching the strap to the cup. At this point, your strap should no longer be connected to your cup. Leave the (currently useless) slider hardware on the strap for now. We’ll need it when we put the strap back together in the next step.
Next, use your seam ripper or manicure scissors to rip the seam securing the hardware piece above the cup, as pictured below.
Clean up the thread debris, then remove the hardware completely.
Step 4: Add the Hook Clips
This step is moderately tricky, it may take a little trial and error to get right. Quick summary: you’re going to add the hook clips and then re-attach the strap to the slider hardware. Here’s how to do that step-by-step:
First, take the end of your strap and your hook clip (with elastic attached).
Insert the end of your strap into the top of the hook clip.
Then insert the end of the strap into the underside of the slider. You should insert into the hole that’s farthest away from the raw edge of the strap.
Pull the part of the strap coming from the opposite hole (the one that doesn’t have the raw strap inserted into it). As you pull, the raw end of the strap should get pulled through the other hole of the slider. Once complete, the raw end of the strap should enter one hole of the slider and exit the other. Adjust until the raw end extends about a half-inch from the slider hardware. We’ll call this half-inch the “nub.”
Pin that half-inch nub to the part of strap immediately behind it. This should make a small loop that secures the strap to the hardware. Once pinned, try adjusting the slider. If it doesn’t adjust, you pinned the nub to the wrong part of the strap!
Sew about 10 stitches to secure the nub to the strap below.
Your slider should now be fully-functional again! Repeat these steps for the other strap.
Step 5: Add the Eye Clips
This step is very straightforward. Locate the eye clips and the piece of strap still connected to the cup. Insert the strap into the hole at the bottom of the eye clip. Pin the end of the strap to the cup.
Sew the end of the strap to the cup. Do this however you feel most comfortable. If you can manage to sew this without your needle going all the way through to the front of the bra, the seam looks totally invisible on the front side.
The front side is so professional-looking! It looks like I bought it this way!
We’re done adding the clips, so we have something resembling a working bra, again! Now it’s time to secure the elastic.
Step 6: Secure the Elastic to the Cups
You need to secure the elastic to the inside of the cup so that the strap doesn’t go flying behind you when you unclip the cups.
Bonus! Because we’ve cut the straps, you can choose to criss-cross them at this point for extra support. Just attach the elastic to the opposite cup!
The placement of the elastic on the bottom edge of the cup is up to you. I like mine halfway along the outer curve of the underwire, but you might have other preferences.
You want the elastic to stretch just enough to conform to the shape of your breast, but not to stretch too much farther, so it stays in place when you unclip. You may need to trim the elastic to achieve this. I trimmed my elastic to be about 8 inches long.
The underwire casing (the fabric surrounding the steel wire) in some bras can be folded away from the cup just a bit. This means you can sew the elastic to the underside of the underwire, rather than to the skin-facing side. This isn’t necessary, so don’t fret if your casing doesn’t separate from the cup. But, I have to say I love how nice it looks to have the raw edges of the elastic hidden!
I’m a bit of a bra geek, I know, but making a beautiful bra functional in this way makes me feel incredibly empowered. I’ve converted many bras using this process, but this particular one turned out really well. We mamas rarely take time to feel pride in ourselves, so I’m taking this moment to say that I rocked this. I hope with all my heart that following these steps will make you feel empowered, too!!!
Okay, so with my sappiness above, I definitely made it sound like you’re totally done with the conversion. And you are done if you only want to convert your bra into a nursing bra. Congratulations if that’s the case! But if you want to convert into a pumping bra, too, there are a few more steps to go. You’re so close!
Note: This is the end of the instructions specific to front-slider bras. Don’t be surprised that the photos in the next part are of a different bra (back to the black bra!). Don’t worry, the steps are the same!