Breastfeeding Sewing – Wilder Gown/top hack

Hey everyone,

I am back on the blog today with another breastfeeding hack, but to be honest with you I feel like a bit of a fraud with this one. As it is the simplest “hack” in the history of hacks!

This week I have sewn up the Wilder Gown from Friday Pattern Company. I have not made it before, but there are so many fantastic versions on Instagram, so I have been lusting over the pattern for a while. It is completely different to what I would normally wear, but I thought I would push myself out of my comfort zone.

The pattern itself has a lot of ease to it. My body measurements fits in to XL, but the garment measurements put me in the L size bracket. I decided that seen as my milk hasn’t come in yet, that I would still make up the XL size, rather than opting for the smaller size.

I went with the Atelier Brunette twig blush viscose twill fabric, which I purchased from Oh Sew! for my Wilder top.

The first hack I did was to accommodate the bump. I was making the top version, which is quite straight up and down below the arm pit. So I graded from an XL at the under arm, to 4XL at the hem. I also added two inches to the length. As you can see from the pictures this has then accommodated the bump really well, but I do feel like its quite tent like. So as soon as the baby arrives I will straighten the side seams up, and shorten the top so it can be tucked into high waisted jeans.

The Wilder gown, straight from the packet, can be used for breastfeeding, by undoing the bow and pulling the top down on one side to access the breast. However, when I did this I felt really exposed, as the amount of ease in the top meant both sides fell off my shoulders. Hence feeling incredibly naked. Not what you necessarily want while breastfeeding in a café.

I opted therefore to add a zip to the centre front seam to give access to the breasts, even when the bow was still done up. All I did was line up the top of an 8” zip with the notch at the centre seam (which is where the pattern wants you to sew the front pieces together from, leaving the top of the bodice unsewn). 8” zip for me is perfect for the amount of pulling that was then required to access the boobs, so I wouldn’t suggest going any smaller with this.

To do this, line up the invisible zip with the 5/8” seam allowance (with the top of the zip in line with the notch) and stitch. Repeat on the other side.
Sew down from the bottom of the zip to the hem of the top.

This has then created a hacked version of the centre front seam that the pattern has. You can then follow all the normal instructions for the pattern.

The bow itself also hides the top of the zip which I personally like, because it disguises the breastfeeding element of the top.