How To Make Your Own Modest Crossover Nursing Dress

This step by step sewing tutorial will show you how you can make your own modest crossover nursing dress. This project is for stretchy knit fabric, and you don’t need a pattern. You just need a knit dress or shirt that you like the fit of, that you can then trace the top of to make a simple bodice pattern.

Now I want to say first, that although I’m calling this crossover nursing dress modest, I know we all have different standards of modesty. But the thing about making this dress yourself is that you can make it how you want, such as with wider straps, a higher crossover, a slightly looser fit, longer, etc! And you can of course also add sleeves.

I love this dress, because it’s practical, comfy, pretty, and it’s quite a quick project. So without further ado, let’s get started!

Supplies and materials

• Sewing machine that can do zigzag stitch
• Serger (optional)
• Stretchy knit fabric (I’m a size small and used about about 2 yards of this jersey knit that’s 95% cotton and 5% spandex, in the color “Army”)
• Matching thread
• Stretch needles
• Scissors
• Clips or pins
• Knit (stretchy) dress or shirt that you like the way the top fits, for tracing the pattern
• Paper for making the pattern (I used wrapping paper)
• Pens, markers, etc, for the pattern

Prepare the paper pattern

Trace the bodice of a knit shirt or dress that fits you well

If you have a tank top that you want to copy, that’s great. I used a dress with sleeves that I really like the fit of. You can of course also use a knit bodice pattern if you have one you like.

To trace the dress or top, first try it on and determine where you want the waist to end and mark it with chalk or a safety pin. Then simply fold in half and draw all around it. You can add the seam allowance now or later. If your top has sleeves like mine, to trace the armhole you can prick all along the curve with a pin. When you remove the dress, you can connect the pin pricks with your pen.

Then, flip your dress to the other side and mark just the side seam.

Make a curved line going towards the side seam

If you’re not already copying a tank top, give the straps a tank top shape (just make sure that the top corners of the straps have 90 degree angles or else it will look funny once you sew them together).

Then make a curved line going towards the other side seam. This part is going to be gathered and positioned lower eventually, but I find that making it the full height of the other side seam gives it a bit more modesty, as well as room to adjust the fit. And I like how the little bit of ruching looks.

Add seam allowances if needed

If you haven’t already added seam allowances, add them now. The seam allowance I used was 1/2 inch, including on the neckline and armholes.

Cut out the paper pattern

My wrapping paper was curling up, which is why the strap looks a little wonky!

Cut out the fabric

Cut front and back bodices

Cut 2 mirror image front bodices, then fold the pattern in half and cut 1 back bodice on the fold. Make sure the back neckline isn’t pointed in the center (I deviated from my pattern piece by about 1/2 inch to make sure it wasn’t). Mark or notch the centers as in the picture below, to help with matching things up later.

If you want your dress to have more of a maternity shape, you could curve up the front waist by about 1 inch. This is something I often do, even on non maternity and kids dresses, because I just like how it looks. But I didn’t even think about it this time!

Cut 2 skirt rectangles

A good width will be 2x the width of the waist, which is what I did. But you can do anywhere from 1.5-3x.

For the length, you can measure the length of a dress you like, or just measure from where the waist will be to where you want the main skirt part to end. Just make sure to add extra for seam allowances and then even more just in case.

Make sure to mark or notch the centers for lining up later!

Cut 2 ruffle rectangles

You can cut the ruffle now, or you might want to do it at the end once you have a better idea of the length you want.

Make sure to add extra for the seam allowance and hem allowance (I do a 3/4 inch hem allowance on knits).

For ruffle hems, I prefer the width to be 1.5x the skirt, but 2x is common too.

Again, make sure to mark or notch the top!

We will cut the binding for the neckline and armholes later.

Sew shoulder seams together

Now to actually get sewing! Sew the shoulder seams right sides together. Use a serger, or a stretch stitch on a regular machine. If you have a regular sewing machine and aren’t familiar with working with knit fabric, you can check out my blog post here for some best practices and tips. But the number one thing is to use a stretch stitch, like a narrow zigzag or the lightning bolt stitch.

In the picture below, I had already adjusted my front armholes a little, but they were originally identical on the front and back.

Try on bodice and mark where crossover should hit, as well as make any adjustments

Pin the side seams together along the stitching line, leaving out the crossovers. Carefully try the top on, trying not to stretch it more than necessary. Try positioning the crossover parts until you find a spot that you like the look of and that will indeed give you good nursing access. Mark that spot.

You might find you want to change the cut of the neckline a little, or the armholes. I actually wish I had made my armholes a little lower, because the binding does pull them a bit higher under my armpits.

So take it off and make any adjustments that you want to.

Prepare and sew binding pieces

Calculate the lengths of the binding pieces

Measure the neckline and armholes, all along the stitching line (1/2 inch from edge). Take the measurements and multiply them by 0.85. Then cut 1 1/4 inch strips according to the lengths you calculated. The direction of most stretch needs to go with the length, because we want these to be really stretchy!

Mark the centers of the binding.

Pin and sew the binding onto the neckline

Pin or clip the binding to the neckline, right sides together, matching center marks. You will need to stretch the binding to make it fit.

Then sew in place with a 1/2 inch seam allowance. Make sure you’re using a really stretchy stitch here. I used my serger for this step. But for the following steps on my sewing machine, I used a narrow zigzag, because I do find it’s more stretchy than the lightning bolt stitch.

Fold over twice and edgestitch with a stretch stitch

Now fold the binding over twice to the wrong side so that it doesn’t show from the right side. Edgestitch in place, using a very stretchy stitch.

Pin and sew arm binding

Now pin or clip the armhole binding and sew in place, but don’t fold and sew it to the wrong side yet!

Gather side seams of crossovers

This picture is from a previous step, but you will be gathering the crossover parts that are highlighted here.

If you don’t know how to sew gathers, you can check out my blog post here for a full rundown.

Pin onto opposite front side seams and baste in place

Pin the crossovers onto the front side seams only, according to the marks you made when you did your try on. The back is out of the way for this part. Sew in place, using a zigzag stitch.

Sew side seams

Now lay the back and front side seams right sides together and pin or clip in place. Pin the seam where the armhole binding is very carefully, to make sure it’s perfectly lined up.

If you’re using a serger like me, baste the binding part with the sewing machine first, carefully sewing over the pin. Otherwise, it’s hard to get it perfectly lined up with the serger.

Then finish sewing the side seam and repeat on the other side.

By the way, I should have had my binding seams pointed up, so I could easily encase the seams when folding the binding later. It wasn’t a big deal at all, but that’s what I would recommend 🙂

Try on again

Try it on again and make sure everything is how you want!

Fold over arm binding twice and edgestitch

Now fold the binding twice to the wrong side and edgestitch in place. This time, you will be sewing in a circle, but it’s pretty much the same as the neckline.

Sew side seams of skirt

Sew side seams of skirt, right sides together.

Gather top edge of skirt

I like to start at center back and sew two lines of gathering stitches on either side of the stitching line (so at 3/8 inch and 5/8 inch for a 1/2 inch seam allowance).

Pin and sew skirt to bodice

Turn the skirt inside out and the bodice right side out. Then insert the bodice into the skirt in the following way, matching up marks and side seams.

Gather the skirt to fit and pin or clip in place. Just like with the bodice side seams, I use pins at the side seams and baste with my sewing machine first, carefully sewing over the pins to get them perfectly lined up.

So, sew the skirt to the bodice with your serger or sewing machine. Then remove the gathering stitches. (Again, I have a lot more tips and tricks for how to do this easily in my blog post on sewing gathers!)

Attach ruffle in the same way

Sew the side seams and gather the top edge. I gather from side seam to side seam, seeing as this is a wider piece and it’s nice to work with shorter sections.

Hem ruffle

Fold the hem 3/4 inch to the wrong side and use a zigzag stitch to secure.

Yay, all done!

I hope you’ll enjoy making this dress, and that you’ll love wearing it as much as I do. It’s so comfy and practical, and I find myself wearing it almost everyday during this last stage of pregnancy!

I’d love to know if you try making this crossover nursing dress out, and be sure to let me know if you have any questions in the comments below!