A Simple Little Shrug

I am going to count this as a nursing top since I have made it especially for that reason, but really this little shrug is for everyone.  I have several nursing camis and I plan to get a few more, so I will definitely need a top layer to wear over them.  I am also super busty to start off with and add the extra “fluffyness” of breastfeeding and it really isn’t decent for me to be out in public with just a cami on and the chill of air conditioning makes it even more obscene.

I already owned these two shirts, the green was thrifted for a dollar a few years ago and I really like it, it’s soft, light weight, and green, although not much to look at on a hanger!  The peach top I have had for years and although I like the color a lot the style is all wrong and it has only been worn a few times.   The sleeves are kind of short with a weird bell shape that gets into everything and is hard to roll up.  While normally I really like the empire waist style the waist line is too high and when I pull it down to the correct position it just doesn’t look right.

I used this tutorial on craftster as my guide.  The green shirt was cut exactly like the instructions and it turned out great (Boobzilla, my duct tape dress form, is a little deformed, so please excuse her lopsidedness, this shrug is really cute on a real person).  I will definitely be wearing this one a lot! 

On the peach shirt I had to start with the seam ripper, removing the elastic at the bust, unpicking the neck facing (I should have cut this off, but I wanted to salvage as much of the fabric as I could, after trying to work with the facing I ended up just cutting it off), and taking out the topstitching on the side slits so they could be sewn up.  The front turned out fine and I like that there are more gathers (this shirt was longer than the green one), but I am still struggling to find a way to “fix” the sleeves.  I have tried making them narrower, which really didn’t look right at all, and gathering along the seam to make the 3/4 length, but that didn’t do it for me either.  I am taking suggestions, I may end up just cutting them off.

This tutorial was super simple and the results are really cute.  The styling makes it easy to lift the bottom edge for nursing while still providing some upper bust coverage (really it is a fun shrug that would work for anyone) and the light weight knit fabric will be comfortable on most warm days and provide a little sun protection for my fair skin!  I think I will get a lot or wear out of the green top and hopefully I will be able to get the sleeves to work on the peach one.