Posted in In the Sewing Basket
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Here's another how-to, this one is on how to make a 2 ring, baby sling carrier. The one that I'll be showing you is one I just made for my sister in law Ashley. She's due next month and I have her shower to go to next Sunday. These slings make a wonderful inexpensive EASY!! present that will be used over and over. I have four little ones and especially with my two babies, having a sling comes in really handy!
Here we go.....
You'll need Fabric (amount=size and that's really up to you) Sling rings Thread to match your fabric Sewing machine (totally optional. I did my first sling completely by hand and it's lasted for years)
You start by buying whatever fabric you'd like to use on the sling. 100% cotton is a really good choice. I chose 100% natural, unbleached cotton for the one I'll be making. You have two choices, chose a narrower fabric or cut it down and hem the sides when you get home. Either would be fine. For Ashley's sling I chose a width of 38" and won't be hemming the sides. The next thing to do is figure out the yardage you need. My sister in law is very chesty and I'm going to make hers with 2 1/2 yrds of fabric. The beauty of a ring sling is that it can be easily adjusted to fit the wearer. To much fabric just creats a longer tail. (Which is awesome for rainy days, to have extra fabric to throw over the baby as you run to the door. Or when you are nursing to have extra fabric to drape over yourself for privacy)
Now for buying the rings that you will be needing. You can check your local hardware store or home improvement store. What you are looking for are 3" steel rings. I've also found them online at Ebay.
You can wash your fabric before or after with this project (but definately before it's used on any baby) Shrinkage isn't really too much of a factor here.
You're going to start by taking one end of your fabric and folding it over 1/2 an inch and pressing it flat. Fold it another 1/2 an inch and iron it flat again. Then sew the hemline closed with your machine. (Make sure your hem is folded into the rough side of the material)
Next, go to the opposite end of the fabric and fold your fabric exactly in half, and iron. Make sure you are folding the rough side of the fabric together. You really only need to do this to the top 1-2 feet) Now open the fabric and lay it flat. Fold each of the sides in, to meet the crease that you made while ironing. And iron smooth.
Now, you're going to fold each of the sides back in to meet the center and once again iron it flat.
Do the exact same thing one more time.
Now you're going to sew a seam straight across the fabric about 5 inches from the end.
Make one more seam 6 inches in (1inch from the first) Now, take the raw end of the fabric and fold it in 1/2inch and press it.
Fold over another 1/2 inch and sew it closed. Now you are going to slide your rings onto the fabric and fold the fabric over the rings to match up the end of your fabric with the the seam you had made 5 inches in. Now sew the seam closed. I go over this seam a couple of times to make sure it could hold even a heavy toddler.
Now I stitch from the edge of the seam I've just made towards the rings to close the gap in front of the rings.
Here's what the finished end looks like.
And here is the finished sling.
I hope that all makes sense!
I hope this how-to was helpful and if anyone has questions, either leave it in the comments or private message me.
Blessings all, Kelley |
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