Nursing Wrap Tutorial

I've been meaning to do this tutorial for a while but haven't had time, but I have tonight, so here you go!What you need to make your own nursing wrap:

• 1 yard of cotton fabric (get the good stuff from a quilt store, the $9/yard stuff, trust me on this! And bigger prints usually look nicer than small prints)
• 2 - 1" D rings
• 16 inches of 1/2 inch boning (it's the hard stuff used in corsets, and it's sold with the sewing notions at most fabric stores. I got mine at Joann's and is about $3/yard.)
• Thread
• About 1.5 hours, depending on how fast you are and how few distractions you have
  

First start by squaring up your fabric along the cut edge (not the selvage edge). Keep it folded in half. Don't worry about making sure the fabric is exactly 36 inches long, an inch give or take won't make much difference.
Once that is straight, fold the fabric in half (newly trimmed edges together) and cut fabric at 13 inches (so that it will be 26 inches when you unfold it). The finished piece should measure 26" x 36". While it's still on the cutting board, cut another strip 3" wide (final measurement of 3" x 36"). This will be the strap of the wrap. The last piece with the selvage edge is extra, but I've heard some people use it to make a wipes cover. When I figure out how to make that, I'll put up instructions for that too!
Put the larger piece aside and let's get going on the straps! Unfold the 3" strip (but keep the pieces together) and cut a 9" strip. This will be the D-ring side. (I forgot to take a picture of that part, but I'm sure you can figure out what that piece looks like!) The remaining piece should be about 25" long and will be the tie strap. You'll need to taper on edge, so to do this, put your ruler on the edge of one side and measure 2" in, then angle the ruler out to widen out to the 3" at the base.
Here's what the final strip should look like:
Now take the smaller piece and put the pieces print-side together and sew the long sides using about a 1/4" seam. (I just use the side of the foot as a guide, it doesn't need to be exact, but does need to be consistent). Leave the top and bottom open.

Repeat with the long, tapered strap, but start at the wide end and sew across the top of the narrow end.
Once that is done, turn the pieces right-side-out. They will look a bit wrinkly, but that's ok! Just get your trusty iron out get to work!
Ahh, that's better!
Now you'll want to top stitch each piece so it looks nice. Use the same 1/4 seam that you used before. Once you go around all three sides of the longer strip, it is done!
Now to finish the short strap! Get out the D-rings and slip them down the middle of the strip and fold it in half. Just do a little pleat thing, it's all good.
Then about an inch below the ring, make a seam (I go back and forth three times for good measure). This will secure the rings so they don't move!
Isn't it pretty? Ah, I'm really loving this print! It's Gypsie Rose by Fig Tree Quilts for Moda. I heart Moda.
Now that the strips are done, let's get the wrap portion done! (And please ignore my fingers, I am quickly realizing how desperately I need a manicure!) First you'll want to hem the sides of the wrap (the shorter sides). Do this by folding the fabric 1/2 inch. I use this little gage thing and it works so well! Iron as you go. Then fold down again to tuck in the raw edge, and iron.
Sew the length of the fabric using 1/2 inch seams. Repeat for the other side. When both sides are done, do the same thing for the bottom of the wrap.
For the top of the wrap, make a 3/4 inch hem, but just iron it, don't sew it! Not yet, anyway. Then get out the boning. This is what it looks like if you've never seen it before. I had never seen it before making these wraps! Most boning is white and it's flexible. Just cut a 16 piece and set it aside.
Take your wrap with your ironed hem and measure 8" from the fold.
Mark both sides with pins.
Open the fabric up. Each pin is where you'll put your straps. I usually put the D-ring strap on the right and the tie strap on the left, but there's no reason why you couldn't do it the other way. Whatever makes you happy. Position the strap with the raw edge under the ironed hem.
Flip it up, take out the pin, and put it back in through the layers of fabric.
Repeat on the other side with the tie strap.
Now it's time for the final hemming! Aren't you excited? Not to make you nervous, but this will be the most obvious seam, so try your best to make it nice and straight! You'll first want to sew using a 3/4 inch seam allowance.
When you get to the first strap, don't worry! There's a lot of layers, but your machine can handle it. Right before you get to the strap, just stop your machine with the needle down, then lift up the pressure foot on top of the strap, then you can keep going and it won't get stuck.
Same thing when you get to the next strap.
Then go back and do one more pass as a top stitch, only this time with a teeny tiny seam allowance. My pressure foot has a little window on the side, and I use that as my guide. I don't know how big it is, 1/16" maybe? I don't know. But just make sure that you go through all the layers of fabric and still leave enough room for the boning to get through.Once that last top stitch seam is done, get out the boning, it is time. Thread it in one end (I usually go through the edge closest to the longer strap because there is less fabric to go through) and push it through until each end is in the middle of a strap.
Secure the boning in place by sewing from the top of the top stitch to the bottom hem. I go back and forth 3 times to be sure. Repeat on the other side.
Here's a close up of how it should look.
Now you can put your sewing machine away, you are done! All that's left to do is put the straps together! How easy is that? Now go make lots and lots of these for the expecting mothers in your life. They will thank you for it!

Getting our kicks

One of the great things about Jarom's job is how family friendly the company is. Every year they participate in the "bring your kid to work" day. Last year, Isaac was a little too immature to do more than just have lunch with dad, but this year, I prepped him on how to act and packed a backpack full of toys, snacks, and books to keep him entertained.

I brought him down at lunchtime and we had a yummy lunch in the cafetaria with Matthew. They had all kinds of fun activities for the kids to enjoy, but Isaac was a bit too young for many of them, but they had an airplane that the kids could sit inside and Isaac thought that was pretty cool.
After lunch, I left Isaac with Jarom and had a wonderful, quiet afternoon! It was great!

Saturday was the Isaac's first soccer game. It was a bit cold and windy, but it was a fun game to watch! The Robots (that's Isaac team, at least for that game) let a goal get by within the first minute from the other team, but after that the Robots shut out the other team. I don't know what the final score was, but it was at least 10 to 1, if not more. Way to go Robots! (Isaac's wearing the green shorts.)Even though he was excited to play at first, Isaac actually spent most of the game like this:Let's hope he feels more comfortable playing next week!

I just love my kiddos!

My SIL suggested I trying little pig tails with Emilie's hair, so I found some cute little baby elastics and gave it a try yesterday, HOW CUTE IS THAT?!?And yes, she is standing up all by herself like a big girl! She does that more and more frequently, although she'll only stand for a few seconds. We tried luring her into taking a few steps the other night, and she did take one step, then collapsed to the ground. She's not quite ready for walking, but she's getting close!Here's a better close up of her little piggies. She's about to suck on the phone. I had to give her something to distract her, and she loves the phone.
And here's the view from the back. Look how much hair she has! Last night Isaac had his first soccer practice! He hasn't really played soccer before, so he has a few skills to learn, but he did very well kicking the ball and running very fast! (That should surprise no one.)Isaac with his coach and team mates. A few of them look like they've played before and are pretty good, so he'll have some good examples to watch and learn from. His first game is Saturday, I just hope he can play with this storm coming in!

Some relief

I feel like such a complainer lately, and I hate complaining, so thanks for putting up with me. Today has been interesting with Emilie. I've only nursed her on the one side that doesn't hurt as bad, and even though she's been feeling a bit short-changed, she's been ok. Then this afternoon I made a discovery, her last top incisor made it's way through and her mood seemed to improve quite a bit. This adorable little girl just doesn't seem to like teething!

As I recall, I went through a similar (but not quite as extreme) scenario with her last time a tooth was coming, and I think she deals with teething pain by chomping down on momma. So I'm hoping that she will be a bit more gentle with me now - at last until some more teeth are ready to come down!

I tried putting her to bed after the lop-sided feeding, but she wouldn't hear of it, so I just braced myself for the pain, but amazingly, it didn't hurt too bad! I've been putting Lansinoh cream on it just about every hour (my tube is nearly half gone!) and I think it's helping. I'm really hoping that she sleeps through the night tonight though and I won't have to do any midnight feedings so that I can have a little more time to heal.

In other news, my cute friend in the ward gave me the speediest hair cut tonight while her husband was grilling their dinner! I think it's going to be super cute, but we didn't waste time styling it tonight, so I'll find out tomorrow morning when I do my hair to see how wonderful of a job she did.

Jarom had a fun day helping with a mock disaster in Orem today. They needed ham radio operaters to assist with their communications, and Jarom was so excited to volunteer! He's very interested in learning as much as he can about ways to assist in emergency situations and becoming an asset to our community and I really admire him for that, even if it means we have to have crazy antennae all over the house.

My parents finally arrived in Georgia today. My brother and his wife moved out there to and needed help getting their moving truck there, so my parents, being incredibly kind, drove the big moving truck through snow storms, hail, wind, rain, and just about any other weather condition not kind to road trips and have finally made it to their destination. I've been playing travel coordinator helping them plan their route, find road closures and detours, update weather conditions, and find hotels. I've been so worried about them these last few days, so I'm very glad that they finally made it to their destination!

Ouch

*Disclaimer* This post is about nursing, so if you are a guy and this makes you uncomfortable, don't read this post. That is, if there are any guys out there who read my blog. Except for Jarom, you're required by law to read my blog.

That said, I'm just going to vent a little bit and see if anyone out there can offer any advice, or at least a bit of sympathy.

My goal with Emilie has been to nurse her at least through her first birthday, which is only a couple weeks away! The first obstacle was her nursing strike a little while ago. We eventually made it through that ok and were back to our normal routine. Then she got a few more teeth and the last two weeks or so I've been getting very painful sores from where her teeth rub against my skin.

I thought that maybe it was due to her latch, so I tried to get her to latch on differently, but when she's been eating that way her whole life, she's not about to change. I tried other positions, but with a baby as big as she is, certain positions just don't work as well. But even with other positions, the sores would start to form on those sides too, where ever her teeth would end up. It's getting to the point where it is ridiculously painful to nurse and I dread it each time.

Since she won't use a bottle, I've been offering her sippy cups and she's getting pretty good at drinking out of those. So far, she'll only drink juice, not milk, but it's a start. I think I've just about had it with nursing and am going to start weaning her as soon as she can take a full serving of milk from her sippy cup.

But until then, any advice on coping with the pain? Or advice on weaning? (I have a feeling she's not going to like that whole process at all.)

Happy Easter!

With work and trying to keep up on everything else that demands my attention, my blog has kind of been on the back burner lately, but tonight I don't have work to do so I can finally write a few things and share a few of our Easter memories!

A few days before Easter, we headed back up to Draper to our old neighborhood (that we miss so much!) for the annual flashlight Easter egg hunt. They kids show up as it gets dark and they have hundreds of eggs all over a park and the kids get to go out and find their eggs. Emilie didn't really care for the hunt, but Isaac had a great time!
Here's his stash!We also colored eggs, although I got pretty stressed out about Isaac dropping eggs and making a mess. I really need to relax a bit and enjoy the process more. Isaac was just thrilled to have a green egg. Here's a close-up of the kids' baskets. I realized as I was filling them that I need to focus a little less on candy next year and maybe add a few more toys or something. I'm learning.The kids didn't seem to mind though. Emilie loved playing with the plastic eggs and even managed to open a few! Jarom also hid a bunch of eggs around the living room and Isaac had a great time finding them. Here are the kids in the new Easter clothes. Isaac looked so sharp in his white shirt! Too bad he got chocolate all over the sleeves before we went to Grandma's house after church, but at least we got a picture of him while he was still clean!At Grandma's house (notice the different shirt?). Man, those are some stinkin cute kiddos!Emilie and her cousin Michaela. They're only 6 weeks apart and are the same size. I think Emilie still overwhelms Michaela a bit, especially at first, but as they get older, I think they will be getting into lots of trouble together.Jarom holding the girls. Eventually the tables will turn and there will be more Hatch girls than boys. You'll see. As we were packing up to go, Emilie and Michaela were playing with keys and I thought it was so cute watching them play together.

More catch-up

It's hard to believe that the teeny tiny infant we brought home from the hospital is now a big 4 year old! Even though we had his party last Saturday, we still wanted him to have a special day on Wednesday. Jarom took the day off and we took the kids to the Living Planet Aquarium. We've had a family pass there for the last few years and we just love going there. They have a new South American exhibit with all kinds of really neat animals I had never seen before, like an anaconda and a piranha! Here's my blurry pic of the piranha, in case you had never seen one before either:Isaac finished up his t-ball session at the end of March. They're starting another one this week that we'll probably let him do again. He likes it and it gets us out of the house and exercising! Here's Isaac's big action shot, running to first base.And the other cute kids that were in his class:Yesterday morning was the 5K I agreed to run with my friend Darla. I signed up to run it a month ago, knowing that wouldn't be a lot of time to train, but I thought I would give it a try anyway. When I woke up yesterday morning, there were about 2 inches of snow everywhere and I considered just going back to bed, but I figured I was pretty crazy to even try to run, I might as well just put on an extra layer of clothes and make the best of it. And by the time we got to Provo, there was hardly any snow around, just a few flakes in the air. I wasn't able to run the entire course, I walked for part of it, and my time was pretty bad, but I did my best! I ran a 5K a few years ago and did a lot better, but considering that I'm just starting to run again, I'm not discouraged. I'm going to keep running and try to improve my endurance and time over the summer. I'm now going to shoot for a 10K run with my brother in July.