Anyone ever made their own stretch or woven baby wrap carrier?

[extracrunchy]

Just that really! I have a very high needs baby, would like some flexibility in the way I can carry her, not really prepared to spend £60+ on what is essentially a long piece of cloth!

Any advice on fabrics etc? And any tips for a "no sew" option? No time for reason as above!

[amistillsexy]

I looked into it, but tbh, the cost of the fabric was similar to the cost of buying a wrap! I bought a few from German eBay and from an American company called Gypsy Mama, which were good value at the time. I made a mai tai out of fabric I had already, and it was lovely, but despite sewing the straps over and over, I never quite believed it was strong enough-which was mad, thinking about it

[extracrunchy]

I'm wondering actually if the fabric might be just as pricey! Hmmm...

[amistillsexy]

Look at <a class="break-all" href="http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=www.ebay.de/&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dgerman%2Bebay%26biw%3D1366%26bih%3D620" rel="nofollow noindex" target="_blank">this Didymos on German Ebay This I s the sort of thing I used to buy (getting all nostalgic now, and wishing I could still carry my little ones around!).

They are expensive, but sooooo worth the money. I had a few different wraps, and a couple of rucksack style slings, and we carried our 3 for miles, and for years. In fact, I was still using a short rebozo to cart DS3 into the playground if he'd fallen asleep in the car at school pick up time the summer before he started in Reception .

We now use an extra-long wrap as a swing in the dining room, and the boys love it

[YarnyStasher]

Try looking up Lenny Lamb. Their outlet is good. Also see if there's a local sling meet. I got my Lenny Lamb sling for £35 from someone who had used it once. DD has spent time in it most days since.

[WaitingAndSpinning]

Stretchy wraps are great for younger babies but woven will give you the support for baby through to young child.

Given most people start off with 4.6m then purpose made can actually be a reasonable price and should be a good quality fabric that has the right diagonal vs lengthways stretch.

You can often sell purpose made wraps for a good chunk of what you spent. The second hand market is very active and I would recommend buying second hand as you can buy a broken in wrap which will be softer and more mouldable and easier to tie.

If you're looking for the more affordable end then this a good Facebook [[https://www.facebook.com/groups/affordable.slings/?ref=ts&fref=ts group) otherwise search for Slings and Things FSOT on Facebook which has loads of options and advice.

Warning - it can be addictive :)

[WaitingAndSpinning]

Trying that link again!

[SouthernB]

My SIL wanted a Hug-a_Bub wrap, really just a piece of t-shirt fabric tapered at the ends, and a re-enforced square in the middle. I made it for her, bought 5 metres of fabric, in the end the wrap cost about 20% of what the bought one costs. I found working with the fabric very hard though - the edges kept rolling up.

[ineedanexcuse]

Some of the African women near me carry their bigger babies in bath towels wrapped snugly around their middles.

Even looking closely I cant work out how they fasten but one day I will pluck up courage and ask one of the women how they do it.

So what I mean is that surely if bath towels work then it cant be crucial to have exactly the right fabric and length?

[YarnyStasher]

No, you're right ineed , you can use really short lengths of fabric, but it's much much easier to use a longer wrap when you're new to using a sling. Mine woven is 4.6m. The stretchy was a little longer at just over 5m. Now I've been using the woven daily for a couple of months I'd feel more confident using a shorter wrap, but the carries are more difficult.

[WaitingAndSpinning]

This is the torso carry you can do with a beach towel:

stroudslingmeet.wordpress.com/2012/10/14/carrying-the-traditions-torso-carries-from-kangas-to-lanas/

[WaitingAndSpinning]

Agh link fail:

This is the torso carry you can do with a beach towel:

stroudslingmeet.wordpress.com/2012/10/14/carrying-the-traditions-torso-carries-from-kangas-to-lanas/

[WaitingAndSpinning]

As Yarny said, you can carry a baby with two metres of fabric or seven or more. But 4.6m is often recommended as a starting point as most average sized people can do most carries with it. You can start with the front wrap cross carry for instance and go from there, it's generally recognised as a good basis Fromm which to learn others.

[DaleyBump]

There are some fab groups on Facebook. Affordable baby slings for sale and swap is one for 100 or less, another is slings and things - fsot and advice and another is babywearing fsot. All have very reasonably priced slings coming up often :)

[DaleyBump]

Waiting got there first

[extracrunchy]

This is brilliant info - thank you! I found some linen fabric at the curtain shop down the road - bargain basement £6/metre! I can hem it etc at home. Is linen a good option? Also found an Ellaroo wrap on Gumtree for £40. Are Ellaroo good ones?

[extracrunchy]

Ah Miaow bummer about your hips and back - and thank you :)

[pootlebug]

You could probably get a 2nd hand Lenny Lamb wrap for £40. The advantages over your £6 per metre linen are:

• If you don't get on with it, you'll be able to sell it for £40-ish. Whereas the piece of fabric will be worth maybe £5-10.
  
• The Lenny Lamb wrap is Oeko-tex certified with organic, formaldehyde-free cotton and dyes. You'll get no such guarantees on the linen, and your baby will very likely suck on the wrap.
  
• The Lenny Lamb will arrive ready to wear - you won't have to faff around hemming etc.

[WaitingAndSpinning]

Agree with Pootle, to answer your question though, Ellaroo wraps are fine too.

[Chocolateteabag]

Well, I made mine from 2.5 m of Jersey fabric cut in half lengthways and stitched to make a 5m long length.

It's identical to the Kari me I borrowed for DS1.

Taper the ends (last 50cm or so) this makes it easier to tie the ends

Try Minerva crafts on eBay for Jersey, mine is plain black

[Chocolateteabag]

Oh and I did a French seam (sew, trim seam, fold and sew on other side ti encapsulate the edges) means it's neat and no right or wrong side for the wrap

[Solo]

I made one from a length of muslin type fabric when Dd was too big for her Wilkinet. I just hemmed the ends, placed a button in the middle at the edge so I knew where to place Dd and looked up a youtube tutorial on how to get her in there and wear her. Very easy and very cheap!