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Monday, September 15, 2014

the DIY ring sling

After bringing you a post like the last one, it seems I should try to offer the world something of beauty too, and not just the crazy and the chaos and the mess.

Something of beauty being, of course, my kids.

And the ring sling I sewed to carry them around!

I made it with Ree in mind, for as much as I love my fabric wrap and my Ergo {and Nell always loved them both, too}, Ree wants to see the world, and is not as content to sit pressed up against my chest unless she is really tired and ready for some serious sleeping.  Awake and alert, she wants to face out.

It seemed like everywhere I looked on the blogosphere, mamas were carrying their babes in those gorgeous Sakura Bloom ring slings.  I did not, however, think I would be able to sell my husband on the idea of spending $100+ on yet another way to carry the babe around.  The solution, of course, was to make my own.


A lengthy cut of pretty grey linen, sturdy rings from slingrings.com, a tutorial from Jan at sleeping baby productions and a little extra info on doing a gathered shoulder, and I was in business.  Easy-peasy.  And I saved myself a lot of money.

Following the one-size-fits-all approach from the tutorial yielded a sling that is definitely longer than I need it to be, so I'm planning to trim and re-stitch the hem on the tail soon, but aside from that I'm quite pleased with it.


Ree is so snug and cozy in it, and can look around when she wants to or snuggle in close and doze when she gets sleepy.  And as it turns out, Nell loves it too!  She has a way of asking for "Mommy hugs!" just when I'm trying to slice oranges and scramble eggs for breakfast or put the finishing touches on dinner, and being able to pop her in the sling is the perfect solution: Nell feels hugged and close to me and is happy as a clam, and I still have my hands free to do what needs to be done.


Oh, and since the sling kind of disguised the all-important fact that the girls wore matching corduroy dresses to church on Sunday:


{A consignment find I'm pretty pleased with.  Every mother gets to inflict this kind of matchy-matchy scenario on her daughters at least once, right?}


Ree was kind of unimpressed by the whole phenomenon, but don't try to tell me your day hasn't been made.

1 comment:

  1. Looks like a great sling! I love the matching outfits. Emma and I joke about doing that with her and Hannah... but finding matching outfits for a 12 yo and a 9 mo old is rather difficult. :-)

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