Something New

     These last few weeks I have been sewing, sewing, sewing!  Fulfilling a bib wholesale order for Sprouts in Whitefish, MT, and building up my inventory for a sale at Mosaic Yoga (an event and a place that are owed their own blog post, coming soon, I hope!)  The local stores are holding so much of my inventory, which is normally fantastic, much better they have my bibs and onesies out for display daily, for customers to see, than to have them sitting in a bag, in a cupboard in my dining room.  But when it comes time for a craft fair, I need to fill that booth up!  So that means sewing bibs and bibs and bibs.  Embroidering as many onesies as I can.  And for this sale I was really trying to sew as many baby and toddler clothes as I could.  I have been loving playing with, tweaking and perfecting my clothing patterns.  I love what I came up with in the end and was super proud to hang them on my antique windows in my market display.  But my friends, my new clothes are also a post for another day.  A post for when I have had time to have a decent photo shoot so I can show you the clothes they way they deserve to look.  I love these clothes and I have been reading this incredible ebook, Style That Kid by Alida Makes (not an affiliate link, I just love it and think you should buy it!) and just can not bring myself to post pictures of my clothes now without using all I am learning about how to show them off!

    So all this talk of posts for another day, what on Earth can this be about?

My ring sling!  Your what?  I know that's what some of you are thinking.  Well, let me show you!

    This is a ring sling! A super easy and low tech baby carrier! All you need is a long piece of fabric ( something sturdier than quilting cotton, though) and some strong rings.  It works for brand new, snuggly, floppy newborns, and big, strong, independent but sometimes in the mood for snuggles, toddlers, and everything in between.  I have been wanting one for months.  There was even a slightly frustrating and stress inducing attempt to buy one made from a Girasol wrap from another mom, with three failed attempts at meeting up, two of which involved a crying Annie and one of which involved being lost in North County with a dead cell phone.  I am so glad that none of those attempts worked out, because I am so in love with this one that I made!  And bonus! It was so easy and cheap!

    The fabric I used is called Cambaya.  It is woven in Mexico and is what traditional rebozos (baby wraps) are made out of; the fabric is literally made to carry babies!  There are many patterns and colors, all bright and beautiful.  And the best part?  I bought this at the Spring Valley Swap Meet.  10 minutes from my house, a little adventure and some exercise on a gorgeous saturday morning, found Annie a beautiful embroidered dress and a bubble gun, and this fabric for only $2.00 per yard!  Swap meet, guys, amazing!

    

    Fabric found and baby carrier grade rings purchased, all that was left was to find out how to safely make this happen!  Anyone who wants to make their own (and if you have a sewing machine, you can make one, it is seriously that easy) check out this page!  She makes and sells fantastic and totally trustworthy ring slings, but also has pages and pages of information on how to make your own, from what kind and how much fabric you will need, why strong rings are important, to the most important of all, tutorials on how to make your own, including video tutorials for different shoulder styles.  The slings she makes use a copyrighted style known as an Eesti shoulder, two small pleats on the sides and gathered in the middle, and she even shows you how to do it.  

    So only 45 minutes after searching the google, I got to do this!

And 5 minutes later when Annie woke up, I got to do this!

    So thank you to the sewing friend on Facebook who posted about Cambaya at the swap meet.  Thank you to all the babywearing mamas who led to my coveting ring slings.  And a huge thank you to Jan from Sleeping Baby Productions for sharing your knowledge, skills and style for free online.  It is incredibly kind of you to do so.  And thank you Annie for still wanting to cuddle with your mama (while brushing your teeth) and for looking so cute all wrapped up in this fabric!

I love quick projects and the instant gratification rush I get when they are done and I love actually sewing something for myself!  This was the perfect post craft sale project for yesterday's nap!  And now she is awake again, time to go convince her to do more snuggling!