Ostomy pouch covers are kind of a fun way to spice up your ostomy life. They’re also kind of nice if you choose to wear a transparent pouch so that you have the best of both worlds (being able to see your ostomy AND keeping it a little more private if you choose to wear your pouch out). You can buy pouch covers through Etsy and Amazon, but they’re actually pretty easy to make if you’ve got a sewing machine handy.
What you’ll need:
Ostomy pouch (you’ll trace this)
Paper (to make your pattern on)
Chalk and Pencil (for making and tracing your pattern)
Fabric – flannel or preshrunk cotton are good to start with (a fat quarter is more than enough)
Thread to match your pattern
Scissors
Pins
Sewing machine
Step One: Making the Pattern for an Ostomy Pouch Cover
- Place your ostomy pouch flat on your piece of paper or pattern making material.
- Trace the ostomy pouch including the circle opening where the ostomy would be (we’ll call this the flange opening). If you use a drainable pouch, you’ll want to make sure it’s closed so it matches the size it will be while it’s on your body.
- Add ¼ to ½ inch to the outer edge of your drawing, and to the flange opening. This will give you a little extra fabric all the way around so you have some fabric to sew on.
- Cut the drawing out, cutting along the outermost edge as well as the larger of the two circles you drew for the flange opening.
Step Two: From Paper to Fabric
- Lay the fabric out face down.
- Place the stencil on the fabric and trace around the outer edge of your drawing. This will be the front of your pouch cover.
- Move the stencil over and trace again around the outer edge of your drawing, and then also trace the perimeter of the flange opening you cut out. This will be the back of your pouch cover.
- Cut out the pieces you traced.
- Cut darts into the flange opening area to the depth that you added when you added ¼ to ½ inch to the flange opening tracing.
Step Three: Sewing an Ostomy Bag Cover
- Fold the darts from the back piece of your pouch cover toward the back of your fabric and pin them in place.
- Set your machine to zig zag and sew the darts in place, removing the pins before you get to them so you don’t sew over them.
- Place the front and back pieces together so that the nice parts of the fabric face inward toward each other. You should see the folds from the darts on the outside when you have the nice parts of the fabric facing inward.
- Pin the fabric together.
- With a ¼ to ½ inch margin, start sewing at the bottom of the pouch and go up and around until you get to the other side of the bottom, leaving the very bottom area where it would drain unsewn. You can sew on zig zag or switch back to a straight stitch, just remember to reinforce the start and finish.
- Fold the bottom part where it would drain up on either side and finish off the edges (but remember not to sew both sides together!).
Step Four: Wearing an Ostomy Pouch Cover
- Turn your pouch right-side-out and put it on. To put it on easily, grab the bottom part of your pouch through that bottom hole you left unsewn and then pull the rest of the pouch cover up and around so the flange opening of the pouch cover goes around your flange opening.
- You can remove the pouch cover when it’s time to empty your pouch, or you can leave it on.
- Once you’ve made one pouch cover and have a hang of the process, it’s quite easy to change the dimensions a little bit for the next one so that you your get the perfect fit and functionality.
Do you make your own pouch covers? I’d love to see them! Post on Instagram and tag me @ostomyadventure!