How to Make a Pouch Sling

Discover the benefits of carrying your baby on your body by making your own pouch sling. Use this pattern to make a simple, inexpensive pouch sling that will allow you to bond with your child while leaving your hands free.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

• 2 yards strong fabric
• 2 yards coordinating fabric for the lining
• Thread
• Scissors
• Fabric marking pen
• Sewing machine
• Measuring tape

1. Select the fabrics for your sling and its lining. Make sure the fabric you choose for the sling is strong. The decorator fabrics found on large rolls in your local fabric store can be good choices. The lining fabric should be soft, as it will contact your baby’s skin.
2. Measure from the top of one of your shoulders to the top of the opposite hip. This is your shoulder-to-hip measurement.
3. Cut the sling shell and lining fabrics into 22-by-72 inch rectangles.
4. Fold the sling shell fabric in half lengthwise (wrong sides together) so that you have a 22-by-36 inch rectangle. Lay the fabric down in front of you with the long edge laying horizontally and the folded edge on the left. Take the bottom edge of the fabric and fold it up to the top edge so that you have an 11-by-36 inch rectangle. Make sure there are no folded edges on the upper right corner, just four open corners.
5. Measure across the top edge of the folded fabric (starting on the left and moving to the right) to determine the length of your shoulder-to-hip measurement, plus ½ inch.
6. Measure across the bottom edge of the folded fabric (starting on the left and moving to the right) to find the length of your shoulder-to-hip measurement, plus 3 inches.
7. Cut a gentle curve from the top mark to the bottom mark.
8. Repeat Steps 4 through 7 for the sling lining fabric.
9. Pin the sling shell and lining fabrics to each other, wrong sides together. Sew them together along the top and bottom, leaving the curved edge of the fabric open. You now have a tube of fabric.
10. Turn the tube right side out and pin the raw, curved edges together with the sling lining fabric facing together.
11. Sew along the curve, and then encase the seam with a French seam.
12. Topstitch along the top and bottom edge of the sling and you’re finished!

Tips & Warnings

• Learn how to properly wear your baby in a pouch sling by reading about different carrying positions online.
• Always have a partner on hand to help you practice putting your baby in and out of the sling until you are confident that you are doing it safely and correctly.
• Never position your baby curled forward in a chin-to-chest position in a sling, as this is very dangerous.