DIY Babywearing Bag Tutorial

*I'm a bit of a wordy gal, scroll down a bit to just get right into the tutorial!

Babywearing isn't only about the carrier you wear your baby in - there are many accessories out there from suck pads (did you know babies like to suck on the straps of the carrier they are worn in?  suck pads are removable and washable to keep the carrier clean), to babywearing jackets (I don't know if you've ever worn a baby on your back, but you can't really put a regular jacket over top of the big lump on your back!), to babywearing bags (bags with long wide straps that you can wear across your body WHILE wearing a baby).

I don't use carriers with straps, so no suck pads needed for me.  I avoid the elements (cold and/or wet weather) most of the time, so nope, don't need a babywearing jacket at the moment.  BUT I've always been intrigued by babywearing bags.  Now that Elle is in Catechesis of the Good Shepherd with Finn I have 1.5 hours on Tuesdays where I can be out and about without the stroller (where the diaper bag normally resides) while wearing Thea.  Last week we went into the city.  I emptied my diaper bag of all but the necessities (a small coin purse with my ID, a couple diapers, and wipes).  That took care of the weight issue (diaper bags are HEAVY when you have all the other stuff in there), and my strap is long enough that I could wear Thea and still wear my bag across my body, but it's a much bigger bag than I needed, and the strap isn't very comfortable pressed up against Thea or I.  So I started looking into buy/making a babywearing bag.

I didn't want to spend $50+ on some of the GORGEOUS bags out there made with woven wrap material, but I wanted the same concept, and I had some fabric left over from my DIY Ikea Wrap (which I have yet to blog about).

So I asked around in a couple of groups and a friend directed me to a facebook group called "Woven DIY" where the lovely Tara had a tutorial for pretty much the exact babywearing bag I was looking for.  Long wide wrap strap, not too big, cute pattern (the little pleats in the front look great and are functional for keeping stuff from falling out of the bag without having to have a zipper or clasp or anything), and super easy for a beginner sewer.

With Tara's permission I've written out the tutorial because I really wanted to share this cute and super easy babywearing bag with all my friends!  Definitely check out the facebook group and if you have any questions I've found Tara to be prompt and extremely helpful!

Okay, let's get on with it!

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All of this is from Tara's tutorial in the facebook group with (mostly) my own pictures, unless I've specified that I did something different :)

What you need:

• 2 panels - 30 cm x 30 cm each
• one strap - 2.6m x .15m
• pocket - 17 cm x 15 cm
• sewing machine
• thread
• scissors/rotary cutter
• needles
• 1 small set of rings (I was impatient to start and just used cheap craft store rings, but actual slingrings would work better and you can get them in lots of colors.  If you're in New Zealand Woven carries them as well as other things you may need for DIY babywearing!)

Now, I'm terrible with visualizing the project even with a photo tutorial, so I'll tell you right now what *I* couldn't see before it was done.  The panels attach to the straps in a way so that the strap is also the sides and base of the bag.  Also the bag is unlined so I worried that it would all be fraying inside, but you will actually be doing a rolled hem on the inside, no fraying!  (I've posted a picture of the inside so you can see what I mean)

All the fabric you need

Cut a small taper at one end of the strap

Cut your 30cm x 30cm panels.

As you can see in the other picture, fold your panels in half and cut a small curve into the bottom corner.

Sew a double hem along the top of the panels - about 7mm wide, and line up the edge with the machine foot, with the needle set to about 4 so it nicely catches the edge.

One of my favorite things about Tara's babywearing bag is that she puts in some pleats and box stitches them in place. That way you don't need any zipper or closure to keep things from falling out of the bag. The pleats are about 2cm wide each.

Double hem the top and bottom of your pocket. Pin the pocket 35cm down from the straight edge of the shoulder strap, making it a bit slack at the top.

Sew in place. Trim the pocket so the hem matches that of the shoulder strap.

Pin the first side of the panels 28 cm down the shoulder strap.

This is the next part that was really difficult for me to visualize before hand.  You're going to start on the top of one panel as it's pinned, but then at the bottom just continue, rounding the bottom corner of the panel with the strap, then the base of the panel with the strap, around the other bottom corner, and then up to the other side of that first panel.  Then do the same with the other panel.

With the shoulder straps on the top, sew the panels onto the shoulder strap with a 2cm hem. Secure the top of the panel really well, sewing back and forwards several times. Ease around the corners carefully.

A finished corner. Sew both panels from the same end to ensure that they start and finish at the same place.
*These are Tara's pictures from her photo tutorial - The fabric shows the corners a bit better than mine, plus she does a much better job on the corners than me!!

Hem the end of the shoulder strap that will take the rings. Trim about 1cm over a 3cm length at the end.

Roll a double hem on the strap, just down from the hem.

Start sewing at the end of the taper.

Sew down to about 5cm from where the panel joins the shoulder strap. Do this on both sides of the shoulder strap.

Thread the rings onto the shoulder strap and pin down so the hem of the shoulder strap is about 3 cm down from the panel.

And now, the last part that was hard for me to see. As I said above, this is where you will be doing a rolled hem on the inside to stop the fraying.  Basically you are going from one side of the straps on the ring end, double rolling through the inside of one side of the bag, then continuing on hemming the strap, going around the corners and then double rolling through the rest of the bag and coming back to the rings on the other side - a circle... or maybe a rectangle?! hah

Stitch the end of the shoulder strap into the hem.

Rolled edge over the panel fabric. Pull on both sides of the fabric to keep them sitting flat.
I really should have touched up my nails before taking these pictures ;)

Sew over the panel hem.

Where you have the pocket hems, you are fine to trim down the shoulder strap hem a bit to make this easier to sew.

When you get to the end of the panels you just keep on sewing a basic rolled hem. Set the stitch width to 4 so it catches the edge nicely when the fabric is lined up against the foot.

Tara's photos again

1.How to do the ends tidily.

2.On the end with the obtuse angle just roll the adjacent side up.

3.Stitch into the corners and then turn around and stitch out of them again so you don't have to do a new seam.

4.Sew along the new edge.

5.For the acute corner cut off a small triangle.

6.Roll the corner over twice.

7.That's twice in this photo.

8.Roll the new edge over twice.

9.Sew into the corner.

Finished obtuse end (left) and acute end (right)

Sew the shoulder strap down in line with the panel.

Tara puts a pleat into the shoulder strap where it goes through the rings and sews tightly up against the rings using a zipper foot. This ensures that the rings stay tightly together and the fabric doesn't slip through them.
I was a bit lazy and just sewed it mainly gathered with a regular foot (as I don't have a zipper foot) so as close as I could with what I had.

This is the inside of the bag.  I didn't do the greatest job ever, you can see a couple fraying spots, but you get the idea.

Finished bag!

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Don't forget to check out the "Woven DIY" group on facebook and if you're in New Zealand, get your rings from Woven!

Sewing: mini-mei tai

I decided to make a dolly Mei Tai (baby carrier) for Elle and Finn before making my own.  I thought it would be good to get a bit more practice, and there were a few spots in the tutorial where I just could NOT visualize in my head how it was going to work out.... I needed to be able to do it to actually see it, and I didn't want mine to be the guinea pig!

In most ways I did it exactly like this tutorial... except I didn't really measure it, so it's not to scale, the straps are actually too short to tie it the way you would for an adult Mei Tai.  Also I just made thin straps - the tutorial has wide straps that can cup the wearers shoulder for added comfort, but not needed for the weight of a dolly.

I was just using scraps from the table cloth I bought to make my Mei Tai.  I cut out all my pieces and then just randomly cut some other pieces for the dolly one, without measuring.

In the end, the waist straps are each about 12 inches from the body panel (just about 3 inches inside the body panel), the shoulder straps are are about 26-28 (good measuring, right! haha) from the body (again there's another 3 inside the body panel), and the body panel is a rectangle of 11 inches wide and 12.5 inches tall.  I cut the top corners where the shoulder straps come out for atheistic purposes.

This is all the pieces (the "body" is three identical pieces).
When I do my real one the inner layer will be "duck cloth" to anchor my straps to.

When I do mine I will do it like in the tutorial, with tabs at the strap openings, and a bit of contoured sides and a head rest.

I had cut it all the other night when Conor was going to take the kids to the park and I was going to get sewing then, but they didn't go to the park, so no sewing was had that night.  So last night (as usual I wrote this a couple weeks ago and never made the finishing touches and pressed "publish"... so I most definitely did NOT do this last night!) after the kids were in bed, I got sewing!  Now, I'm learning that I am NOT a perfectionist when it comes to sewing.  I really just blew through this project, with lots of little mistakes and hardly a straight line to be seen! haha.  But a couple of the little mistakes I made (all just cosmetic mistakes, nothing that would make it unsafe to carry a baby in it) I have learned from and hopefully they don't happen with the real deal!

This is the inner layer with the straps attatched... a good practice for my "x-boxes"

So first you attach the straps to the inner layer.  This is basically the most important part, the straps have to be secure in order to safely wear a baby in the carrier - x-boxes are the securing factor.

Then you put the outside and inside layer on and sew, but you don't sew over the strap openings, because you have to then turn it inside out, so that the x-boxes are hidden inside.  THIS is where I couldn't figure out how it would actually work, how you could turn it inside out and get the straps out ... anyways, it works!

Lastly you top stitch all around, tucking in the openings from the straps

The finished product!

This is where my cosmetic mistake comes into play, mainly just on this one strap opening.  Because I didn't have them all cut to the same size, and I had my x-boxes too close to the edge, I couldn't tuck under the opening to sew it pretty.  I'll do better with the real deal.

Not "sew" pretty... but the kids don't notice!

Ta-da

The next morning the kids were so excited to try it on!

Elle with her big teddy because I couldn't find her dolly

Finn wanted to go next!  On the babywearing groups I'm on the ladies are either asking for advice on how to get their husbands to babywear, or else they're showing off their babywearing husbands with pictures.
So the caption "real men wear their babies!" was just a bit of a cute joke :)

So there's my first dolly mei tai.  Other than cutting this all out, I did all of the sewing on the same night... about 1.5 hours.  Not bad!  Like I said I'm not much of a perfectionist and just blew through this, but it's cute - would love to make these (a bit better!) for gifts!

Hopefully in the next week I'll finish mine!

Oh, and I'm not way more excited about this than the kids.  Finn hasn't worn it again, and Elle's only worn it once since that day.

Next sewing project

So...or sew...I never finished the coasters.  But I will for next Christmas! They basically all just need to be sewn from the inside, turned right side out, and then top stitched.  As it's a long time before I need to finish them I just have no motivation.

I also have a tote bag project with the fabric all bought and ready to go, but I don't NEED the bag, so again, no motivation to start it yet.

But now I've got a new project in mind.  One that I've been thinking about for a long time, but it's a bigger project for a beginner like me and I wasn't sure if I would use the end project so didn't know if I wanted to invest the time into it or not.

Of course it's another babywearing thing! Haha.

It's called a Mei Tai.  It's like a cross between a wrap like I've been using, and a buckle carrier like an Ergo.  I can't wear those buckle carriers because the never feel good on my back/shoulders - but with a Mei Tai you can cross the straps on the back which, for me, really helps distribute the weight better. Also, when you wear the baby/child on your back, you have more versatility with tying the straps, unlike an ergo where you just buckle it and that's all.

I'll be using the tutorial off of this website - might tweek a couple things here or there

I finally put out a request onto a local babywearing Facebook group to see if I could borrow someone's Mei Tai to see if I actually liked it and would wear it...and if I did like it, I wanted to have a better look at the structure. Someone who has parents living up the road said I could use hers (and I've met her a few times, so that was nice to see her again).

I love it!  It's seriously so comfortable!  I put it on and about 3 seconds later knew that I NEEDED to have one - haha.

Seriously, she felt weightless in this thing!  This one is a bit big, so I'll take the measurements, and see what the tutorial has it measured at and figure out how big to make it.

This is basically the one I'm going to make (there are a LOT of variations you can do - the straps can be thin and padded, or wider and not padded.  The waist can be padded. The body can be a rectangle, a rectangle with a circular top, you can have a "hood" on it, so that when baby falls asleep you can secure their head, etc etc)

I'm excited!  I just have to get my fabric now... I may even just make it out of an Ikea tablecloth :)

Sewing: Coasters part 1

So I had a few people giving me tips when I wrote on facebook about my interest in learning to sew - and one person (my sister-in-laws mother) said that making coasters is a great way to learn sewing.

Obviously I didn't do them first, as I really wanted to do my ring sling, and all that needed was a few hems and a few more straight stitches.

Around that time, someone on a sewing facebook group posted a link to a "Sewing 101" blog post series so I had a look at it.  

Part 1 talked about machines, and what other kind of tools you would need.  Then part two was...coasters!

I went to the local fabric store and decided to get some christmas fabric for the coasters - who knows, maybe I'll make enough for gifts (I think I have enough fabric for quite a few coasters!)

This first coaster will definitely NOT be given out, as I botched it a bit.  Thea kept interrupting me, and I was getting frustrated so was rushing it.

I didn't leave enough of an opening to turn it inside out easily, so ended up pulling some stitches, and then I had problems getting the opening stitched over.

Live and learn!

Coaster #1 - Front

Coaster #2

Next night that I don't have anything to do I think I'm going to cut out pieces for more coasters, and then they'll be ready to just sew together another night.

I'm enjoying SEWING, but the prep work is a little bit tedious!

Sewing: Ring Sling

Disclaimer: This is NOT a tutorial.  Please do not use my directions to make your own ring sling - I am VERY much a newbie sewer... find someone who actually knows what they're doing!

So as I said in my earlier post about finally learning how to sew, I've really always wanted to but for many reasons just haven't done it.  But then I got interested obsessed with babywearing. While it's not in our budget to spend more on more wraps etc, I really did want to try a ring sling.  And in order to learn to sew, you need to have things to actually sew in the first place!

(image from Google images)
If I did buy a ring sling, I love this Girasol one!

Thus my first sewing project became a ring sling!  I'm part of a "DIY babywearing" group on facebook, so got some tips on fabric etc (although ended up having to consult some Aussie babywearing friends because certain fabrics here go by different names in the states, and the DIY group is mainly North Americans.)

You really want to be careful what fabric you choose when making babywearing items because the wrong kind of fabric can be disastrous if it suddenly can't take the weight of the baby.  One type of fabric might work perfectly fine as a wrap, but would NOT work as a ring sling because the seams that secure the rings might not be able to bear the weight of the baby.

So after talking to some local babywearers, I decided to go with a "drill" fabric. I really really wanted a chevron print, and usually with ring slings you want a fabric that has the print on both sides since you see the "wrong" side in the tail (the fabric that comes down from the rings)...but as the fabric was on sale, I decided I would just try it anyways.

The next important thing for a ring sling is the rings!  You need rings that are weight bearing tested (NO craft store rings) - slingrings are pretty much the go to, some people might try rings from hardware stores, but I just decided to go with the "industry standard".  Plus they come in lots of pretty colors!

I had actually already bought the rings previously to use with a current wrap as a no-sew ring sling, but I just found the wrap too long for this purpose.

So I googled how to make a ring sling and came across many many many websites and blogs. Someone on the DIY group linked this this page, so I got a lot of my info from there.  I decided how wide and long I wanted the ring sling, hemmed the two long sides and the tail end, and then used the video for a "gathered shoulder" on that site which shows how to pin it so that you can easily sew the rings on.

Conor had picked up this ironing board when we first moved here... but I don't iron!
I DID finally buy the iron a few days before the sewing machine :)

The point of this post is not to SHOW you how I did it, because again, trust a tutorial by someone else... but here's my ring sling!!

I actually made a "mistake" right off the bat.  I had bought an off-white thread to use on the wrap, but at the same time bought a black thread just to use for practicing, assuming I would someday need black thread for something else.  Well I completely forgot to change the thread in the machine until I had hemmed the one short tail end.  I showed Conor and said I would just change the thread then, but he said it would probably look weirder to have the one end hemmed with black than have the whole thing with black thread.  I'm very glad I listened to him, and I'm actually very happy with the black.  I can "see" my handiwork (or mistakes!) easier!

My model was sleeping so I pulled out good old "hospital bear"

As you can see in the picture, you can see the "wrong" side of the fabric hanging out, but I actually don't think it looks bad, and if I want I can wrap it around the rings so that there's no fabric hanging down at all.

Thea seemed to like it the next day!  I just popped her in for a picture.

If anyone wants to know about the length.  I cut it to be 30" wide, and the length before sewing on the rings was 2 m (I think it's about 8 or 9 inches shorter than that now).  Most people actually buy more, and I meant to, but then totally forgot about the length I would lose with the rings, but I'm happy with the length!  I don't really like a lot of excess wrap hanging down.  If I had bought it longer I likely would have chopped it to the length it is now, or else folded up the end so use as a "pocket" at the end.

So another reason I didn't want to spend a lot on a ring sling is because, so far, Thea doesn't actually like to be worn on my hip, she squirms and screeches... it's not fun.

But you CAN wear the baby a bit closer to your chest with ring slings, so I tried it out the other day.  I had a doctors appointment right at lunch time, and the kids were really well behaved so we went to McDonalds next door for lunch.  After we ate and the kids played in the playplace, I popped Thea in the sling and started chatting to another mom there.  Then I noticed her head was flopping around.  She fell asleep!  THAT is a sign of a good baby carrier - so we'll call this project a total win!

Squeal!

So you know how I said I was still trying to decide which machine to get?

Well on a sewing FB group I'm on someone asked if people recommended singers over brother, or vice versa...pretty much everyone said brother.

I remembered looking at Big W (like Walmart) online and Target.  One sold Brothers and one sold Singers.  So out of curiosity I had a look again just to see who sold what.  Target was the one stocking brothers, but it only listed 2 and neither were one that I has seen at Target when I went on the weekend (and the one I saw didn't have a price).  So I was a bit confused.

A lot of stores here don't have a very good online versus in-store matchup, if that's the right word.  Anyways, I decided I might just call many local target and ask what one they had in stock and how much it was.  When I went to look up the phone number, there was a flyer on the website, so I quickly looked at that and guess what, in the flyer there was a brother sewing machine on sale from $350 down to $150.  It wasn't on the online store AND I was pretty sure it was the one I saw in store AND today was the last day of the sale.

I called right away and they still had a few so I got one put aside just in case.  After naptime I whipped together some pizza dough to let it rise and the kids and I were off.  When we got to Target we also got a $10 off coupon, so in total I saved $210!

It's probably still not as good as some of the other machines I was recommended, but I would have had to wait for those to go on sale, and this one had some good reviews online.

So excited!

Sewing

When I get something in my head, I go for it (for the most part) - I learn as much as I can.  It becomes an obsession until I know what I need to know about it.

Right now I have sewing on the brain.

I have wanted to learn how to sew since grade 8.  For "applied skills" you get a one term sample of your 4 options to choose for the following years: cooking, sewing, drafting, and computer keyboarding/programming.

Sewing was the only one I had any interest in, so for grade 9 I signed up, but there weren't enough students registered, so off to cooking I went (I had to choose an alternative in case I didn't get into sewing, the others held even less interest for me than cooking)

Anyone who's known me for longer than a few years knows how terribly picky I am/was...especially back then.  Every year of high school I was put into cooking class, every year my teacher just shook her head and rolled her eyes.  I wouldn't say I was bad at it, and actually I didn't so much mind DOING the cooking/baking...it's just the eating (and sometimes even just smelling) it part that I didn't like!

Anyways, after high school it was until a few years later that I got interested in sewing again (kind of wrote about it here), but being the transients that we are, I never got around to learning because I never wanted to invest in a sewing machine just to have to sell it or give it away in a year.  But now I'm determined.

I'm still deciding what sewing machine I want (either get one that's reg $150 from target or big W now, or wait until a better one goes on sale for that price, probably around Christmas...I don't think I have the patience for the latter option!) but last weekend I went to a local fabric store to start buying some of the other odds and ends I will need (scissors, cutting mat, thread, etc), except I was way too overwhelmed by everything and bought nothing - Gah!

I got home and posted about it on Facebook and got several replies from people IN CANADA saying they would love to help me...but obviously that's not gonna happen! Haha.  Even another homeschooling mom on the other side of Melbourne offered, but that's too difficult...then I remembered a friend who lives about 10-15 minutes away who sews! Eureka!

I emailed her and asked if I could tag along the next time she goes shopping, hoping to not be a nuisance, and even offered home made cheesecake as payment for maybe a short tutorial - luckily she's actually excited to have a sewing buddy and she very enthusiastically said she would show me the ropes!

So this weekend I'll meet her at the store, and she said she'll give me some tips, maybe help me make a simple skirt for Elle.

I'm so excited!  I signed up for Pinterest when I was just getting into babywearing so I could pin video tutorials of different carries and stuff... I haven't gone on since.  Then last night I thought of a few simple things I would like to make (one for myself, and then a couple gifts) so I hit up Pinterest again and found exactly what I was looking for.

I'll do blog posts for things that I make for anyone who cares. (Although maybe not the ones that are gifts, in case the recipients read this!)

Hobbies, homeschooling, and more

I have 4 topics I want to talk about.  Two of them tie in together, and the other two tie in together.

Making it 2 posts will be too long, but I'm having trouble deciding how to start them and keep each separate.  So once my brain can figure that out, I'll have a few blog posts coming up.

I think I might have to just sit one night, write all four, edit and tweak them, and then set them to post.

Right now it's dull and raining out, I banged my elbow on my bedroom door really hard and I can hardly straighten it, and I would love to just sit and ice it but Thea had a very short afternoon nap and now doesn't want to be put down.

Seriously it's been raining for almost 24 hours straight...other than maybe an hour this afternoon.  Are we back in Vamcouver again?

*Here's Elle doing some dolly-babywearing...it's called a "torso carry" if anyone cares ;)