DIY Belly Band

Motherhood Maternity Belly Band

What pregnant woman out there isn't in love with the belly band? They help you stay in "normal" clothes longer, they help keep you covered when your body shape changes and pants slide down/ tops come up, they get you back into your "normal" clothes again postpartum, and they keep those sides and back covered while lifting up your shirt for nursing. In my opinion, they are a must have! And, ones like this sell for 16.98 at motherhood maternity! (Plus 6$ dollar shipping if you don't have a store near you...)

Wowzers. Guess what- you can make them for a whole lot cheaper. I just whipped up two in less than ten minutes. I used left over fabric from my maxi skirt for one, and a fabric remnant I picked up at Joanns for the other one. I spent maybe 3 dollars on each. My fabric was a polyester/ spandex blend that has a good stretch when pulled on horizontally and vertically. I know jersey knits are also popular and I read that you can even just cut up an old jersey cotton pillowcase! Brilliant! Here is how my home made version turned out:

Sorry for the blur...

I started to follow Ashley's tutorial from make it love it, but hers was a little complicated and even involved some hand sewing. I think this is because the fabric she chose to use had a right side/ wrong side. So, if you want to make your own band and your fabric is also like that, you should head on over to her blog. It really is a good tutorial with good pictures. Otherwise, here is my super fast tutorial on a belly band made out of fabric that does not have an obvious right side/ wrong side to it.

1. Measure around your under tummy (at about your pelvic bone) and measure how wide you want your band (how far up you want it to come on your tummy.) My under tummy is roughly 35 inches and I like my band to be about 10 inches wide.
2. Cut your fabric. Cut a rectangle that is exactly the length of your waist + seam allowance and that is double that of your width. Mine was 36 inches (35 inch waist + seam allowance) by 20 inches (double my desired 10 inch width.)
3. Now fold the fabric lengthwise (hot dog style) pin and sew with a zig zag stitch. Zig zag stitching allows for stretch.

4. Now, reach your arm through the tube you just created and flip it right side out. Fold up your ends with the seam on the outside (kind of like right sides together as you'll want to hide that seam.) This may not make a lot of sense until you do it, but once you are at this step it becomes pretty obvious. Pin and sew again with a zig zag stitch.

4. Turn inside out again to hide both the original seam you sewed when the fabric was folded hot dog style, and the new seam you just created. Voila! Your very own belly band. Nothing this easy should cost $16.98!