GroshLink

I [Theresa, not Tom] made my first baby sling, a pouch sling to be precise. My inspiration was my friend Serina who I refer to as the Queen of Slings. I was in search of an easy way to hold Eden on my hip b/c she's not the easiest baby to hold and she's getting too big for the Baby Bjorn. I have found my answer! The pouch is cheap to make, easy to make, portable, easy to wear and comfortable. Here's what I did:

1. Tried Serina's Kangaroo Korner Adjustable Fleece Pouch. Really liked it, but I'm still looking for a used one to buy. I just can't bring myself to shell out the $58 for a new one. But then I got to thinking that fleece may not be practical for summer. So I
2. Investigated cotton pouches and almost bought one for $39. Then I
3. Came across directions to make one and thought, why not try? So I
4. Bought 2 yards of 97% cotton/ 3% spandex in a really funky print. I printed out 3 different sets of directions from different web sites b/c they all contained confusing instructions to me. But by piecing together helpful instructions from the 3 sets I came out in the end with a sling that appears to work!
5. While it was fresh in my mind I wrote down my instructions so that I would be able to replicate the process. The 3 sets of directions that I used came from: www.sleepingbaby.net/jan/Baby/tubesling.html
and, oh dear, I see I don't have the websites for the others. But one that is similar is apparently www.ida.net/users/stace/sling.html

Here's how I made it (some of the steps won't make sense without seeing an explanation of the "smile")
1. Cut the 2 yds. of fabric 22 inches wide (this will be enough for 2 slings).
2. Hem the long sides
3. Fold fabric lengthwise
4. Fold fabric widthwise
5. Measure for "smile" and cut. My smile was 27" long at the longest and 24" long at the shortest.
6. Open lengthwise fold
7. Sew "smile"
8. Check fit with baby in sling. Adjust smaller if necessary (you can't go bigger at this point unless you left a big seam allowance when you sewed the smile).
8. French seam the smile.
9. Wear with pride!

There are lots of different ways you can carry a baby in this type of sling. I'm mostly interested in the hip carry. However I did swing Eden around to my back and she felt pretty secure there. So that's the pouch sling. I've included a picture to show you what Eden and I look like using it. But it doesn't show details on what the pouch itself looks like.

Good luck!