The Nursing Apron

I considered titling this "Embracing My Inner Type A", because it is less a tutorial than a reveal.  But then anyone actually wanting suggestions for improving the ubiquitous nursing apron pattern might have a harder time finding this... and so, the misleading title.

For the uninitiated, the nursing apron / cover-up / hooter-hider is a fantastic invention for any breast-feeding mother who wants to maintain some discretion while feeding her child.  Or not.  I'm a woman, a mom, and a doctor; nothing you flash is going to bother me.  I didn't have one of these until my sister-in-law made one for me when baby girl was born, and sent me the pattern as well.  So when an expectant friend mentioned she'd like a polka-dot one, I was happy to oblige.

Tutorials abound on the web (here and here and here, for starters), so I won't bother to repeat that.  They're all variations on the same basic theme with negligibly different dimensions.  But all with the same inexplicable design flaw:  the D-rings are on the shorter half of the neck strap, so that in order to tighten it, you have to pull the adjustable strap back over your shoulder with the third arm you have growing out of your back.  Or pull it upward, like a hangman's noose - assuming you can manage this while juggling baby and without exposing yourself in the process.  The thing is, it is no more difficult to make that D-ring strap longer (say, 10"), so that the adjustable end now faces downward in front, so much easier for those of us with just two arms to reach.  It is probably a bit obsessive of me to need to fix this or comment on it... and perhaps most people rarely tighten it or adjust it after the initial use (though those of us blessed with generous cranial dimensions - or big hair - will have cause to use it more than once).  But I say, if you're going to bother to make it, might as well make it right.

Which all goes to show why some people might think that I'm somewhat type A.  I tend to fly under the radar, really; I'm not particularly ambitious or aggressive, and as for competitiveness, why, I'm sure that I am the least competitive person I know.