How to Make a Baby Sling

[16 Feb 2010 | By Dot | 16 Comments | 12,472 views ]

My lovely neighbor Katie has made a ton of these slings, for both herself and for friends, and she’s graciously shared this tutorial. This makes a great baby gift for a friend, and even if you’re not overly sewing proficient, you can make one for yourself while the baby is napping! These work for small babies, up to toddlers…

Katie has given us a great step by step with pictures, but if you have any additional questions, just ask!

Making a Baby Sling

: Buy 2 yards of cotton fabric, the sort that feels like men’s dress shirt material, no stretch. You will also need a spool of coordinating thread. Wash Fabric to pre-shrink.

: Fold the fabric in half long ways, so that the “good sides” face each other.

: Sew a seam along the entire side, making a tube. Turn “right side” out.

: Organize the tube so that the seam is in the middle if you lay it flat. Fold in half, so that the seam you sewed is on the outside in the middle (“wrong side out”). Match up the sides well, so that they are aligned on either side.

: Measure 28.5 inches on one side and 23 inches on the other side. (These measurements seem to work well for regular weight people between 5’6 and 5’8”.

: Step 5, continued. If you are concerned that might not be big enough, make the measurements larger on each side by the same amount). You can always make the sling smaller, but not larger, so try bigger first.

: Step 6: Draw a straight line from the side where you measured 28.5 inches to about an inch before the middle of the fabric. Now make an almost flat arch from your straight line to where you measured 23 inches. See the ribbon in the picture for a general idea of how your line should look.

: Step 7: Pin the fabric together just above your line, but not were the pins will be in your way when you cut. Cut out the line through all 4 layers of fabric together.

: Step 8: Set your machine to the zig zag stitch. Sew a seam were you cut 4 times, using the zig zag stitch.

: Step 8: ..more

: Step 9: Turn Sling right side out.

: Step 10: Try on your sling. Always put the 28.5 inch seam toward your body, so the sling makes a deep pocket. For a small baby, fold sling in half before putting on. The baby should sit near your belly button when placed in the sling.

An older baby should sit comfortably on your hip. You only need to fold the sling in about ¼ of the way with an older baby, taking care to keep the 28.5 inch side closest to your body, so the sling makes a pocket.
If the sling is too big, you can easily shorten it by turning it inside out laying it flat and sewing a straight seem at the top to take it up. You can do this in ½ inch increments until you get to a size you like.
It can be helpful to leave the excess fabric when you take it up because it helps you find the top when you are trying to put it on. If you choose to cut it, you will need to sew the seam four times with a zig zag stitch to make sure it is sturdy.

These might be related posts, too:

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16 Comments »

Heather Mann (elsewhere) talked about this article :

RT @DotatDabbled: New @ Dabbled: How to Make a Baby Sling: My lovely neighbor Katie has made a ton of these slings, http://bit.ly/9IFT1e

# 17 February 2010 at 2:58 pm

makalove :

[[sighs]]

What is a “regular weight” person, anyway?

It would be great if you could give some suggestions for altering the measurements for those who are of non-regular weight…although i’m not quite sure what that would be.

# 17 February 2010 at 3:28 pm

anna :

oh, iam confuse about yard and inches :C

# 17 February 2010 at 3:52 pm

Jasmine :

Makalove: This is the pattern/instructions I have used lots of times. It is super easy, can be customized to many sizes of women!

http://www.mykarmababy.com/pages/BabySlingPattenr.php

# 17 February 2010 at 4:09 pm

Funky Dreams (elsewhere) talked about this article :

How to Make a Baby Sling: Dabbled — http://dabbled.org/2010/02/how-to-make-a-baby-sling.html

# 17 February 2010 at 9:15 pm

Dot (author) :

Makalove:
Sorry the term Average was not meant to offend, just to give a general idea. Katie has kindly written this tutorial explaining her process, hopefully to help others who might want to make their own baby slings. As she stated, these dimensions seem to work for 5’6-5’8 women of average size. This is just generally the size she has made for. As she mentions in the tutorial, if you’re larger than a postpartum woman of this height, wrap the fabric around you before you start to get a general idea, and add a few inches. And you can always make it smaller. If you’re smaller, start with these measurements, and shorten from there.

Jasmine:
Here is a site that will convert to centimeters if you are more familiar with those: http://www.easysurf.cc/cnvert.htm

Thanks everyone!

# 17 February 2010 at 10:17 pm

Factory Direct Craft (elsewhere) talked about this article :

Make a baby sling http://bit.ly/d9SA1k

# 18 February 2010 at 1:27 pm

Chris Pessoa (elsewhere) talked about this article :

Como fazer um sling: http://tinyurl.com/yh4c86l

# 18 February 2010 at 10:26 pm

desk_stage (elsewhere) talked about this article :

http://tinyurl.com/yh4c86l
http://dabbled.org/2010/02/how-to-make-a-baby-sling.html

# 5 March 2010 at 5:58 am

Stella :

Thank you for posting this! So awesome! I love it and my baby loves it too! We use it everywhere now because it is so convenient to use. And you can’t beat the price compared to slings that you can buy that are out there! I’ve gotten so many compliments from other mothers & grandmothers already. Tell Katie thank you thank you THANK YOU!

# 15 March 2010 at 11:30 pm

Dot (author) :

So glad you are enjoying it! Would love to see a picture of your finished product! I’ve passed your Thank You on to Katie as well!

# 16 March 2010 at 8:35 am

Jaye Jaye :

Very nice tutorial! The first pouch slings I made 5 years ago were made just like that! The uneven edges make for such a comfy seat :).

# 7 April 2010 at 11:07 am

baby slings :

I love that you illustrated your guide with deetailed images. Do you know anywhere that sells cute, patterned or floral material to make them rather than using solid colors?

# 26 September 2010 at 1:06 am

[link removed, please do not spam] :

Thank you so much! You make it seem quite simple so I look forward to giving this a try!

# 9 December 2010 at 1:27 pm