This is the best sling I have tried and I can't imagine mom'ing without it. My son is as happy in it at 17 months as he was when I made it when he was 6 months old. It is a modification of a few different styles that have been around for generations.

Here you will find pictures and some notes so that you can make one yourself.

Enjoy!

Sling Description

Look at the photo of the sling with the measurements drawn on it. This is pretty well everything you need in order to sew your own sling, assuming that you have basic sewing skills.

I have used backpack style fastex buckles for the waist band and for the shoulder straps. For the waist belt, I simply folded and threaded the fabric through the buckles but you could also attach wide webbing straps instead. For the underarm connections to the shoulder straps, I used 3/4" webbing with a length of 26".

This sling fits both me, 5'7", 130 lbs (170 cm, 59 kg) and my husband, 6', 190 lbs (183 cm, 86 kg). You may need to adjust measurements if either you or your carrying partner(s) are out of this range. (To convert the measurements shown in inches to centimetres, multiply by 2.54.)

I've designed this sling to be worn with the straps crossed at the back, but you could shorten the shoulder straps and not cross them (I find crossed is way more comfortable).

All measurements shown are finished measurements and don't include seam allowances.

Each section piece you see is two layers of fabric with the rough edges folded under and then the two pieces sewn together. If you have strong fabric, this is probably not necessary. I did this so that it would look neat and there wouldn't be any seams digging into my son.

There are two length measurements shown on the waist band in the illustrated photo. The longer one (50") is the total length of the waist band. The shorter one (9") is the length of the cotton batting that I sewed in between the two layers of fabric for hip padding.

There are also two lengths shown on the shoulder straps for the same reason. 32" is the total length and 19" is the cotton padding length. Both padding widths are 3".

You'll notice that at both ends of each shoulder strap, I have folded and sewn in the corners where I have attached the shoulder strap to the sling body and at the other end where I have sewn in a short piece of webbing that loops through the female end of the fastex buckle.

Wearing/Carrying Instructions

Once you've got the sling made, cross over the shoulder straps and do up both the shoulder strap clips, pull the sling on over your head, do up the waist belt, loosen the shoulder straps appropriately, then lift your baby up and lower baby in from the top. The first few times you do this, it's easiest to have a partner lower baby in as you reach through with your hands where the baby's legs will go. Grab baby's feet and guide them through the openings. It will become very quick and safe, trust me! When my son was younger I always had his arms under the straps. Now that he is bigger, they go over the straps.