Stand back, I can make slings now!

I just made my first two baby slings! The possibilities are endless; I keep thinking of all the fabric I have stored away which can now fulfill its destiny. I used these directions from ida.net and love the way my sling turned out, even though my fabric wasn't quite 45" wide. I am used to a hotsling, so it didn't bother me that my sling was a little shallower. I thought I'd take some pictures and add in my two cents here.

1) I measured from my shoulder to my hip and got 23". Double that was 46, plus 6 was 52". As luck would have it, that was the exact length of my fabric! It was a remnant (my favorite way to buy). Stacie's instructions said a 45" wide piece of fabric could make two slings, but I made two slings even though my fabric was several inches short of that. I just grabbed the nearest available piece of already washed fabric since I didn't want to wait.

2) When hemming the two long edges, I folded it over twice so no edges were hanging out. It made it look nicer. That is probably obvious to all you sewing ladies.


3) I folded the fabric in half, wrong sides together, so the raw edges met. Then I folded it in half again and drew a line where I wanted to cut my "smiley face." The ida.net directions say you should end up about 2-3 inches above where you started.


4) My smiley face was a little pointy, but I fixed it after unfolding.


5) I sewed the smiley edge together...


6) Then I learned how to do a French seam! (I'd never heard of it until now.)


7) Then I sewed down where the hems met the seam, and on my first one I even reinforced that with a little zigzagging over the crack. Now I realize that was overkill.


I am just in awe of how simple this was. I didn't even make a mistake! Go here for the full directions and her diagrams. Thanks Stacie!