DIY Shorty Wrap (plus three ways I wear it)

Getting things done with a baby in the house can be hard. Which is one of the reasons babywearing can be a life-saver! This summer in an attempt to beat the heat I tried out a new lighter, cooler baby carrier - the shorty wrap!

I love my homemade ring sling and stretchy wraps for a newborn, but with a hefty 9 month old I've moved into more supportive waters. I've made a couple Mei Tai carriers that I haven't reached for lately (the ease-of-use is great, but I'm planning to make one with wider straps to see if I can get it a bit more comfy). So that has left me falling more in love with woven wraps. And it probably helps that Husband got me the wrap I've been dreaming of for my birthday last year. But both the dream wrap and my homemade wrap are pretty long (a size 5 and a size 7) and require several passes. More passes = more layers = more heat. So when I started thinking about something cooler for summer, a shorty seemed like it was worth a try!

A "shorty" is woven wrap that is... short. Ha. Size 4 or shorter. The one I made is only a size 2 (more info on wrap sizing here). I've actually made one shorty before using a $6 tablecloth (tutorial here) but I didn't really know how to use it and gave up pretty quickly. But a couple months ago I came across the shorty carry tutorials by Wrap You in Love, and the whole shorty world opened up before me.

Babywearing & Maternity Jacket Insert Tutorial

We're about to have our first cold-weather baby. Like any day now. So I've been nesting like crazy trying to get things ready around here. One of the things on my to-do list was finding an affordable baby-wearing jacket... which it turns out is no easy task! Prices started at $45 for a jacket insert and went as much as $300 for a full babywearing jacket. Yikes. So I decided the best option was to make my own. Not only did I end up with a babywearing jacket that is both easy and affordable, it also doubles as a maternity insert to keep pregnant bellies warm!

You can make an insert to work with any jacket or coat you already own, and it's reversible so you can put the wider end at the bottom for maternity use, then flip it over for more space at the top when you have a little bundle to wear. The wider end has an elastic cinch cord to help you get a good fit at any stage.

You really only need a few things to make your own babywearing jacket insert. I already had the thread and a jacket, and I spent about $15 on everything else. The fleece was on sale, so most of the cost was the zippers. If you use coupons for those you'll save quite a bit! Here's everything you nee:

• jacket or coat
• 1/2 yard of fleece that matches your jacket (if you want a wider insert you'll need a little more)
• two matching 20" separating zippers (measure your jacket to see if you need a different size)
• 1 cord stop
• elastic cord
• thread

How I Dyed a Wrap {and what I learned for next time}

My favorite way to wear Baby Brother right now is the wrap a friend made for my when Big Brother was tiny (check out all my babywearing posts & tutorials here). She dyed it a pretty gray color and I loved it. But now I've reached a point where I feel like it's maybe just a bit boring? I'm more exciting than plain gray, right? So I decided to give my wrap a little dip dye makeover. This is the before, tiny Big Brother included:

Even looking at this now I think "Wow, that's pretty!" So hopefully I didn't make a huge mistake. Ha!

And this is the (slightly) less boring after:

There's still some gray involved (and I wore a gray shirt. ha.) but I added some color along the rails. That also makes it easier to adjust when I'm putting it on because if the blue part is loose I can just grab the blue tail and tighten it.

The dye wasn't very hard to do and it was actually SUPER fun. I made some mistakes so some spots are a bit splotchy and uneven. But I still love it! Here's a rundown of how I did it next time, and what I would change next time to fix my mistakes. Here's what you need to get started:

• a wrap (cotton or linen work with this dye & technique. if you don't have a wrap you can make your own. Joann Fabric carries linen fabrics and a cotton fabric called Osnaburg that is super affordable and a favorite for DIY wrapping.)
• soda ash (to set color. You can also use washing soda. I didn't know that before I ordered my soda ash so I ended up using some of both.)
• salt 
• fiber reactive dye (fiber reactive dyes bond to the fibers. DO NOT use RIT dye because it doesn't bond and will come off in baby's mouth when they chew on the wrap! Dylon dyes available at craft stores work well but the colors aren't always as vibrant as I would like. For this project I stepped it up and ordered Dharma dyes and don't regret it. I used Avocado Green and Teal Blue)
• well ventilated area, mask & gloves (better safe than sorry! you don't wan't any dye powder going in your eyes or nose, and the dye will stain your hands if you don't wear gloves.)
• container like a small garbage can (I've read that anything used for dying will not be food safe anymore, so don't use a kitchen pot or anything like that!)
• coffee filter 
• hangers, clothes pins, and something to hang it on like a tension rod or drying rack

Tablecloth Babywearing {a $5.50 tutorial}

You guys know I love the benefits of babywearing. It meets baby's needs to be close and keeps my hands free to chase Big Brother. You also know that I'm cheap, and am generally against throwing buckets of money at things I can make for myself for a fraction of the cost. Babywearing is no exception! Of course if you're making baby carriers yourself, it's important to trust your sewing skills and make sure you use quality materials and techniques (all babywearing tips and tutorials on my blog are to be used at your own risk. Do you own research. If you have any doubts, just don't do it!). Thanks to a few babywearing DIY pros, I recently found out that some of the best fabrics to make a baby carrier with are tablecloths!

Of course it depends on the table cloth, you want something that's made of cotton or linen and strong enough to hold your baby, but they generally have a great balance of being tough enough for the job but still breaking in nice and soft and floppy which makes them comfy and easier to tie. You can use them to make wraps, slings, or even mei tais! Target is a great place to start because almost all of their tablecloths fit the bill! Plus they come in pretty colors and go on sale pretty often. I really lucked out on black Friday and found one of their thanksgiving prints on clearance for just $5.50! The one I picked was 60 x 120", which is the longest they have and what you need if you want a short wrap. You can get by with 96" long if you want a ring sling with a shorter tail. 

To make a wrap start by prewashing and drying your tablecloth. They typically shrink about 10% and you want to get that taken care of before you start sewing. Next fold the table cloth in half lengthwise. Cut down the fold to split it in half (you'll have two pieces roughly 120 x 30"). Guess what? You're getting TWO baby carriers out of this $5.50 table cloth!!

Baby Doll Ring Sling {tutorial}

Good news, guys! I found this post I wrote last fall and never published! That was a freebie. Now you can finally make a baby doll ring sling for your little fellas. And also enjoy these pictures of Big Brother looking so cute and tiny, and be amazed at how he has changed in just 6 months. *cry* Okay, on to the tutorial....

After I made my rings sling in preparation for Baby Brother, I knew I wanted to make a doll sized version for Big Brother as well. It's a great way to help your bigger kids feel involved when there is a new baby. It's actually been great - he loves to wear his baby doll when I'm wearing the baby! Today I'm sharing a tutorial so you can make a sling for your little copycat, too.

Here's what you need to make one:

• 17 x 45 " piece of fabric (you should be able to get it out of 1/2 yard but it depends on how straight the cuts are and how much your fabric shrinks, so I would get a bit more to be safe on the width and your tail my end up just a little shorter. It doesn't really matter what kind of fabric since it won't actually have to hold much weight. Make sure you wash & dry it before you start sewing.)
• thread
• rings (you can buy small rings from slingrings.com, but I just used these cheapy binder rings)

My finished sling is about 15 x 41" and fits my 2.5 year old. You can get more fabric and adjust the sizing a bit to fit an older child (for a longer tail I'd suggest 1.5 yards of fabric so you can cut it out lengthwise, for more width you would just need to get 3/4-1 yard instead).

Just like with my ring sling I started by hemming both long edges with a basic rolled hem. Fold the raw edge under 1/2", then 1/2" again and stitch right along the folded edge. You can iron it if you want, but I just folded it as I went.

Once both edges are hemmed you can make the pleats on one end (you can see more how details on how I did it in the original tutorial). I just eyeballed it this time to make it look pretty, each pleat is about 3/4" wide and the whole thing ended up about 3" wide. Watch out for tiny helpful hands!

Day 4 - Baby Wrap

Welcome back, friends! This month we're working on 31 handmade gifts for everyone on your list. You can find links to the full series here.

We're almost done with baby week. Can I get a "what-what?" Husband loves it when I say that. ;) Anyway, today we're going to be making a really easy stretchy baby wrap!

You guys know I like a good baby carrier (don't get me started on all the benefits for both mom and baby), and this one is the easiest to make and one of my very favorites for wearing a new squishy little baby. Look how cozy for a little guy!

Let's start with a disclaimer... Babywearing is great when done safely! Any babywearing tutorials are used at your own risk. Stretchy wraps like these are great for new babies, but really only work until baby is 15 pounds or so. Never ever wear a baby on your back in a stretch wrap, and please be very careful when wrapping! Make sure babies face is visible, his chin is off his chest, and he should be close enough to kiss. There's much more to learn about safe wrapping so definitely do you own research so you can wear your baby safely! A stretchy wrap is similar to a moby or boba wrap so those would be some great places to find safety info.

It may sound like a lot of work, but once you get the hang of it stretchy wraps are so easy to use and can really be a life saver - especially if you have older kids! Baby wraps keep my hands free when I need to help B go potty or get breakfast.

Ring Sling Tutorial

I've talked about babywearing before (you can see my posts here and here, and how I made my own mei tai carriers here and here) but it's not something that's come up much since B decided he is definitely too big to be worn around several months ago. But now that we're about to have a new little squishy bundle, I've been thinking babywearing will be better than ever since it can keep both hands free when I need to take care of B! I still have the stretchy wrap we loved when B was tiny, but I started thinking it would be nice to have another option. Something quicker to put on and off when we are in a hurry. So I asked some babywearing friends and the result was pretty unanimous - a ring sling was the way to go! But I was not on board with spending $60 to purchase one... so I started searching for how to make my own!

 

I can't wait to test it out! I tried to talk B into hopping in for a quick hip carry, but he totally didn't go for it. Like I said, he's apparently all grown up or something. So for now I just wait for a little squish to fill it up. In the mean time, I have a tutorial if anyone else wants to give it a try!

Supplies:

• fabric - 2 - 2 1/2 yards x 30 inches 
• I used a single layer of 100% linen fabric. I've heard linen is a great choice because it's sturdy but still pretty lightweight and breathable.  
• From what I've read, something of that weight is fine in a single layer but if you want to use something like a quilting cotton you'll need at least 2 layers to make sure it's sturdy enough. 
• Also keep in mind that the tail of your sling will show the wrong side of your fabric, so get a fabric without a wrong side if you can or use two layers of cotton with the wrong sides together to make a reversible sling. 
• If you use a 60" wide fabric you can get two slings out of it! 
• pair of rings 
• make sure you get rings that are designed for ring slings and tested to be safe! I ordered aluminum from slingrings.com
• the size depends on the weight of your fabric and the width of your sling. For my 30" wide linen they suggested the large rings, but be sure to read their recommendations if you are using something different!
• matching thread
• use a high quality thread that won't break! I always here Gutterman's is recommended for babywearing projects and available at most sewing stores. 
• accent fabric (optional)
• this is just if you want to add a little extra pretty to your sling and can be any kind of fabric. I just used some scraps of quilting cotton.

Got it? Let's get started!

Quick Babywearing Update

Good news, I finally got a couple pics of Baby B in our new Mei Tai! (and if you follow me by email you probably got a sneak peek of this the other day when Baby B decided to go ahead and publish it for me. Thanks Baby B.)

 When did he get so LONG?!

I'm totally loving this fabric. So pretty!

 "What's goin' on up there, Momma? Let me see!"

This is how he signs "more." I think at this point he's saying he wants to see more birds. But it's hard to be sure.

Waving bye-bye.

In other babywearing news, I just bought my first woven wrap from a local WAHM! She hand dyes the fabric any color (or colors) you want. I asked for a pretty gray and boy did she deliver. I love it! I also love that it is so versatile - there are dozens of ways you can wrap it. And it is crazy comfortable. I wore B for over an hour this morning while I did lots of cooking (and he fell asleep!) and I didn't feel tired or sore at all. It my be my new favorite thing. I'm still getting the hang of it and haven't tried the more complicated carries or a back carry yet, but we're hooked! :)

And for your viewing pleasure, I present Baby B. Who has learned to climb onto both chairs and the table, and in doing so terrorize my sewing machine to no end.

The end.

What I've Been Sewing - "My" Tai

I've really been enjoying the Mei Tai I made with Beth's pattern. So much so that I want to make some for my friends as shower gifts, and possibly even to sell. Beth doesn't want her pattern being sold, so I decided to tweak it and make it my own. I changed the size & proportions a little (to make it less short & wide), the way the bottom straps are attached (I think it might make them a little more comfortable), the entire shape of the top half (to look pretty and hopefully improve the fit around Baby B's shoulders), and took a layer out of the middle (to make it a little lighter, I think two layers will still be enough to make it sturdy). I still need to wear it around a while to see how I like the changes.

It also makes me a little nervous to make them for other people before I put mine (especially my new design) through the ringer some more. I want to make sure it is sturdy and durable and, most importantly, safe to use! Even then I don't know if I'll do it. Ha ha.

And I need to get a picture with it on, but I keep forgetting to ask my husband to snap one while he's home! Oops. :) So for now this one less-than-fabulous pic will have to do. Sorry!

***UPDATE: Pictures in action! :)

But anyway, hope you had fun with my week full of sewing! Anybody else ever made (or used!) a baby carrier? What's your favorite kind or pattern?

Beth's Mei Tai

I mentioned the other day (in my post about baby-wearing) that I was working on Mei Tai carrier for Baby B. I want to give credit where credit is due, and it is definitely due to Beth for making this great Mei Tai pattern for free! My carrier turned out great, but some of the pictures and directions were confusing so I took pictures as I went to try to fill in some of the gaps. And I did a couple little things differently. I marked them in red so you can compare if you want. :) I really like this pattern because it's pretty simple, makes a great carrier, and has bonus features like a pocket (that you can reach even if it's on your back) and a hood/head support flap for sleeping babies. This style carrier is not good for smaller babies, but is great for babies over 6 months like Baby B!

I ended up spending $15 on this carrier by using fabric from the clearance bin at Hobby Lobby. Used Mei Tai's can sell for around $30 on Ebay, so if you use an expensive fabric you may end up spending more to make one. But of course it would be way cooler and you could pick a super-great print! So let's see how it's done.

Step 1: Find a small boy with a yard stick to "help" you measure.

Step 2: Have small boy "help" with holding and marking fabric.

Step 3: Wait for nap time/daddy to get home so you can actually get something done. :) Okay, real tutorial time. :)

Fabric
3 yards duck cloth
You can find recommendations on Beth's tutorial and I ended up choosing duck cloth (like canvas) because it is sturdy but still soft and pretty lightweight. For me 3 yards was just enough, but if you have a directional pattern you may need more to get things facing the right direction. This was enough fabric for both the straps and body of my carrier. The only other things you need for this carrier are strong thread, a sewing machine, and tools like scissors and pins.

Cutting Your Fabric
Beth's tutorial has a list of the pieces you'll need to cut. They are all rectangles so it is simple to measure and cut your pieces. I just use a yardstick to mark the size. She also has more options for different sizes. I would recommend cutting your knot pieces a few inches longer just to be safe. See step 6 for details.

Making your Carrier
I'll number the steps to match Beth's tutorial so you can follow along between the two. Sorry if this isn't super convenient, but I don't want to steal someone else's tutorial. I just want to fill in the gaps with pictures and tips!

1. Hemming the long edges of the straps - fold under 1/4" and press, fold again and press (shown below).

 

Stitch close to the inside edges of the hems (shown below).

 

2. Pleat the ends of your straps - 3 pleats for this size of strap. Your total thickness after pleating should be about 3" (shown below).

 

3. Attach the straps to the inside layer of the body - go by the layout drawing on Beth's tutorial to place your shoulder straps 7" down from the top of the body at a 45 degree angle. I found the easiest way to get the angle right was to fold a piece of paper in half, then fold one corner in to the center fold line to get a 45 degree angle. Then I could line a straight edge up with the side of the carrier and line the strap up with the angled side. Hopefully the picture below will make sense. The should straps will be placed face down.

 

Then place the waist straps on the bottom corners, also at a 45 degree angle. These straps are face up (paying attention to which way your straps face is very important if you are not using a reversible fabric, like me)

 

Pine those straps in place. So overall we have this:

 

According to Beth's tutorial it's really important to NOT sew within 5/8" of the edge of the body, so I went ahead and measured in 5/8" and marked a line to make sure I didn't get too close.

 

Then stitch it on the straps. I've heard that it's best to triple stitch things when making a baby carrier. You can see how I started by following my marked 5/8" and stitching near the edge around the strap. Then I did it two more times going in a little further each time so I have three lines of stitches.  I also put an X across the middles.

This shows the shoulder strap stitched on and you can see a little better how I did the three lines of stitching and an X.

4. Make the pocket - start by pressing the edges in toward the wrong side (see how much on Beth's tutorial)

 

Then flip your pocket right side up and fold a short end in 4" and press.

Open up the fold and tuck the crease under 1" like shown below. Repeat for the other side.

 

This is what it should look like when you're done:

 Next sew two lines of stitching down the short sides of the pocket. There is a good illustration of this on Beth's tutorial. Also, I accidentally measured one side wrong so it's all lopsided. Oops.

 

5. Attach the pocket -lay down your inside body piece (with straps attached) making sure the shoulder straps are right side UP. Then lay your front body piece directly on top, right side up. You might want to use a few pins to keep them from scooching around. Then, on top of both of those layers, place your pockets 6" from the bottom & centered horizontally. See the drawing in Beth's tutorial for more details

Sew through all the layers to attach your pocket, leaving a 6" opening on each side. Beth's tutorial has a GREAT illustration of where the stitching should be. Check it out!

 6. Make the knot loops for the hood/head support - Beth's tutorial has one kind of knot, but I tried it like 15 times and couldn't get a knot at all. So this is how I did it instead. Start by folding your fabric in half lengthwise (wrong sides together) and press. Then fold each long edge in 1/4" and press.

 

Then fold on the middle crease and press again, like below. Top stitch along both long edges, close to the edge. Repeat for the other strap.

 Now to tie the knot. I found that the simplest way to do it was to fold the strip in half...

tie a simple knot, like when you start to tie your shoe....

  

scooch it down toward the loop end....

  

 (that is where I ended up having to stop on mine because my strips weren't long enough. It will work okay, but the knot is smaller than I hoped. If you cut longer straps, you can keep going to get a more substantial knot.) Pull the loose ends through the loop at the end.

  

Your knots will look something like this when you are done. You want them to be about 5" long total, so cut off any extra to get the right length.

Now pin them to the top of the front body piece like below. Beth's tutorial says to leave at least 5/8" gap on the sides, but I went ahead and did a full inch to be safe.

 

7. Attaching the back body panel - lay down your assembled carrier face (pocket side) up, lay the the back body panel face down on top and pin around the edges. Then sew a 5/8" seam all around EXCEPT where the straps come out. Beth's tutorial says to stop about 3/4" from each strap, so I went ahead and marked my stopping and starting points to make sure I didn't forget and go too far (it's the pen lines below).

 

After you sew, clip the top corners (see the illustration in Beth's tutorial) and turn the carrier right side out through one of the strap openings. You will have holes like this where the straps go, so just pull them through.

  

Does anyone else see a funny dancing monster guy?

  

This was the kind of tricky part. You need to tuck the edges of each strap opening in and press them so you get a nice finished edge. However, with the way this turns out the seams get in the way of each other so you can't get them tucked in right. So I just did the best I could and it turned out okay. If you want to have an easier time, you could try making a little change earlier on (in Step 3 place the shoulder straps face UP and the waist straps face DOWN. Then follow the rest of the directions as they are. I haven't actually tried it, but I think it should work. :))

  

Then just top stitch all around the edge. It wouldn't hurt to do a second line of stitching, too.

The next step is attaching the loops that the hood knots will go through. Beth's tutorial has great directions for this, so I'll just let you check it out there.

Finally, try your carrier on to check the length of your straps. If you are happy with them you can go ahead and hem the ends, of if they are too long you can cut them a little shorter and then hem them. All done!

The wide straps actually give really great support and I can wear it comfortably for quite awhile. And Baby B has already fallen asleep in it a few times. :) See how I can keep both hands free? That's great for me and Baby B loves still being close to his momma.

I picked the most neutral pattern they had in the bargain bin so my Nathan can wear it to, which he actually did during a trip to IKEA. Yes, he took me to IKEA and carried a sleeping baby around while we were there. He's my hero.

There are a couple different ways to wear your Mei Tai and Beth has great tutorials with pictures! One tutorial shows how to carry in front.

 And the other shows how to carry in back.

I still can't wait to try making a few more styles, but this one is definitely a keeper!

*******SAFETY NOTE: Use extra care if you make a baby carrier of your own. Remember, you are carrying precious cargo so read all instructions and suggestions carefully to make sure your carrier will be safe and comfortable for your baby. Always carefully read the instructions for proper fit and use of your carrier as well. Use a homemade carrier at your own risk, so if you have concerns about safety just don't use it!*******