Free Baby Sling Tutorial!

I loved my baby sling!! Thank you to my fab sister in-law for telling me about the joys of wearing your baba. And as you can see from the photo, it made traveling a breeze! We did 2 trips to the UK and one to Hawaii in this sling ..... not to mention all the other hours of wearing her before she was big enough to poke her head out hehehe I have the funniest you tube video of us dancing around the living room in it …. But I won’t subject you to that!

It was the best for getting the baba to sleep ......  made my life so simple! 

So how do you make a sling?  Before I begin please remember to prewash all your material! Don't put it in the dryer.... hang it outside. An inch shrinkage makes a huge difference in the fit!

My favorite baby sling fabric is found in the home decor section, it’s 100% cotton, thus breathable, fabulous for the Arizona heat and wonderfully strong to hold your little baba’s weight.

First let’s measure you….. You need to measure from the top of your shoulder across your body to your hip.

The hip measurement is tricky, as everybody’s bone is in a different place. So draw an imaginary line from your tummy button over to your hip, that’s the hip measurement you want. If you are unsure, add an inch, it is better to have a sling to big and take it in rather than one too small!!

 

In the photo I have already seamed the entire sling, but hopefully it helps you with the instructions! (Spot the baby!)
 
Ok, you need about 2 yards of fabric from the store.
Cut your fabric lengthwise to about 24"

Fold the fabric in half, then fold up so that all four open corners are to the right.

Measure the top edge of the sling. This should be 1/2" longer than your shoulder to hip measurement. Mark that (X) (in my case, 24") on the upper right edge of the folded fabric. Now, measure the bottom edge. The measurement for this should be the top edge measurement (X)+ 3 (in my case 27").

Now, cut a semi circle from the bottom mark to the top mark.

Unfold fabric widthwise, turn wrong way out and sew the two ends together along the curve that you just cut 1.

Make this into a French Seam. Sounds hard, but it isn't........Turn right way 2, and iron the seem to one side, now sew through the fabric and the seam underneath 3!  Wow, you just did a French Seam!!  This is needed as your baby’s bottom will be sitting in this little pouch bit, so you need it to be super strong!

Now pin (use an iron it makes sewing a lot quicker!) sew the raw top and bottom edges of the sling to make nice finished seams 4. Make a 1/4" hem on each side, but be careful when you get to the part where the French seam as it’s a tad thick!

You can add a binkie clip if you like .......

Simply use some ribbon (seal the edge with a lighter if you’re brave ;) ) and attach a popper) and now you’ll never lose a binkie again!

And that's it!  It should take about 1 hour total.

I made one for my hubby with a pocket for his cell and baba bits!  It matches his fireman uniform perfectly!

Enjoy!  I know my little girl loved hers!

For all the ways to safely use your new sling try this site Bellala Baby

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