DIY Children's Ring Sling

In honour of International Babywearing Week here is a post on how to make your child a ring sling.

You will need

• 1.5 metres of fabric (I usually use cotton featuring a pattern that suits whoever I'm making it for). Cut to make it 55 cms wide.
  
• 2 rings (plastic bangles that have no flat edges or wooden rings designed to be handles for handbags work well)
• Sewing machine/cotton thread to match the colour scheme of your fabric.
  

Method

Cut fabric to ensure you have 1.5 metres length and 55cms width (you will lose approximately 2cms when heming the edges)

Hem all the edges of your fabric (fold edges over 0.5-1cm, iron flat, fold over again and iron again, pin to keep it secure, sew)

Once all the edges are hemmed, lay the fabric out with the outside/patterned side down width-wise (you don't need to worry about the length for the time being).

Find the centre of the fabric, mark it with a pin.
Fold one edge over, in to the centre:

Then fold the other edge in to the centre:

Repeat (you are reducing the width of one end of the fabric in order to put rings through it and then sew them into the sling)


Slide the folded fabric through your rings.
Slide the rings approximately 40cms down from the hem

Fold the fabric which has gone through the rings over them,

Take the hemmed end that has gone through the rings and fold this back towards the rings (this will half the length of excess fabric you have through the rings and if you tuck the hemmed side underneath, the hem will disappear from view when you sew over the fold locking the rings into place). Sew a zig-zag stitch along the neat fold:

Continue sewing with the zig-zag stitch,
Create a box
Make sure the rings aren't too close to the foot of your sewing machine, or everything will jam

(as you can see in the pic below first time I tried to sew a much larger box, but got too close to the rings and couldn't sew the final line across the top of the box):

Sew an X through your zig-zag box.
If sewing diagonally from one corner to another in zig-zag stitch is too hard for beginners you can use a regular line of stitching:

Voila!

Now that your rings are sewn into the fabric and can move but won't escape your ring sling is complete.

All you need to do now is thread your sling (see below for instructions if need be) and help your child put it on and secure teddy inside :)
Ta-Da!

Not for adults!

Though the same instructions can be used to make an adult sized ring sling. you need different sized fabric and proper rings intended for ring slings. For an adult sized sling be mindful of sturdy, high quality materials so that the children who are carried in your sling are safe.

Threading Ring Sling

Take the end of your the sling which does not have the rings and fold fabric from the middle, concertina style. It doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to have the edges of the sling on the outside:

Hold the rings in one hand and your concertina folded ended in the other, make sure the inside/non-patterned side of the sling is facing up toward you, not the floor:

Put the concertina folded fabric through both rings:

Continue pulling the length through the rings until you have roughly as much fabric through the rings as hanging on the other side of the rings:

Lift your concertina folded end up again
Take it over the first ring
And slide it through the second ring

Pull the fabric through, the longer you make your tail the smaller you will make your pouch.
Your ring sling is now threaded and ready to be worn.

To put on the ring sling hold the sling

1. let your child choose which side he or she would like the rings on, put his/her opposite arm and head through the pouch/opening of your sling.
2. Slide the fabric down away from child's neck and spread it across his/her shoulder and back.
3. Slide the sling around so that the rings are positioned up on child's shoulder, quite high (the reason for this is that once you put someone in the sling and then pull the tail through the rings to tighten it, the pulling action will cause the rings to slide down into the most comfortable position - over your child's collarbone).
4. Put teddy inside the pouch of your sling (make sure there is fabric between your child's body and teddy so teddy doesn't fall out.
5. To tighten the pouch so that teddy is hugged to your child's body safely pull the tail through the rings further.
6. To tighten just one side of the pouch, pull just one edge of the tail.

Happy International Babywearing Week everyone!

*Pattern was inspired by Sling A Ma Bob Instructions, with some adjustments.