Birth Ball Cover

So just picture this...a 5' 3" 115 pound doula schlepping a giant birth ball through parking garages, into elevators, up stairs, through doorways, inevitability bumping into the unsuspecting passer-by. Yeah, that is me every time I take my birth ball into a hospital, birth center, or client's home--my arms barely grasping it. Not to mention when I am leaving the hospital, I feel so gross clinging to the huge rubbery sphere that has just spent hours on a hospital floor and under a laboring woman.

I needed a solution, and there it was on, you guessed it, Pintrest. A birth ball cover with handles! Great, I found what I needed, but it cost over $45 and I didn't even like the pattern the company was selling. So I searched the internet for a pattern and I found the blog that helped me create it. Diary of a Seamstress inspired me to make it. Her instructions were pretty basic, so I thought I wasn't going to be able to do it, but once I thought about it, the design was really simple (and thanks to a super-sewer friend who helped me wrap my brain around the "pattern").

I used stretchy purple jersey (60% off at Joann Fabric) that measured about 36"x 58". I sewed the seam for the drawstring along the stretchy side. Then I folded the fabric in half, and sewed the long side shut. I pinned handles at the bottom and sewed it shut. Next, I flipped it inside out. Easy peasy lemon squeezey! It is a tight fit to get it inside and I would probably consider using spandex next time for the all over stretch. It turned out pretty darn good for my first birth ball cover! Just when I didn't think being a doula could be any sweeter...enter the birth ball cover/bag!