Wear all the babies

My sister is expecting her second child soon and she asked if I could make her a ring sling so she can hold baby number two while caring for baby number one.

Of course I said yes because it involved sewing something for my sister/new nephew, going to the fabric store with my sister and trying out a new pattern. My sister picked a linen blend because it is both strong enough to hold the baby and lightweight enough not to make her and the little guy too hot this summer.

She picked Embr Teal in Natural Ivy, from JoAnn Fabrics because the base color is neutral enough to go with anything, and it isn’t too girly to put a little boy in. I picked up matching cotton thread and aluminum turquoise rings made specifically for babywearing from SlingRings. There are other colors too, but this one happened to match perfectly.

My sister wanted me to make a sling following the pattern of Sleeping Baby Productions. The fabric was wide enough to cut it in half and make two slings for the price of one. So I made one with a pleated shoulder and one with a modified complex centerfold, which is supposed to be better for my sister’s narrow shoulders.

Sleeping Baby Productions has written instructions and a video tutorial on the website, so click here to find out how to make a sling directly from the source. But there are a few spots where she’s speaking from the perspective of someone who has made hundreds of these instead of speaking to a beginner who hasn’t made one before.

Specifically, she kind of breezes over the whole hemming process by saying that she has a special foot custom made for her machine to do half-inch hems. Good for you honey. For the rest of us, I put together a photo tutorial to show you how to do a double rolled hem with a mitered corner, you know, so you can look fancy when the wrong side of your fabric is facing out while babywearing.

Also, if you’re going to create a pleated shoulder, I do not recommend eyeballing it like she does in the video. Use your seam gauge to get a consistent half-inch pleat.

Enjoy the double hem tutorial. Make sure to pin it for later because this can be used anytime you need a double hem, not just for ring slings.