Saturday 15 September 2012

Water-resistant Sling Cover Tutorial

Since my baby arrived my sling has been my best friend. Sandy falls asleep in it within 10 minutes without fail. And the best thing about it is the ability to just pop it on, pop him in and go anywhere. There is no hassle at all it's just like wearing a backpack on your front. A really cute and great smelling backpack.

Anyway it's been so hot since I had sandy and I'm really glad for this more autumnal weather but of course that has meant rain. And also wind. So how do you keep a baby in a fabric wrap dry in typical Scottish drizzle? I tried an umbrella which works to an extent but certainly fails in wind. Others suggested buying a too big coat and zipping it over both of us... But I spent 9 months wearing tents and really want to wear my normal coats again. So therefore it has been necessary to find a water resistant sling cover. I was pointed to Hoppediz who make one but after one sling meeter suggested you could easily use a bin bag similarly I had the inspiration to make one myself. 

At first I imagined I would go and source some fabric but then I realised there was a much cheaper option which also took out 90% of the sewing work too. So if you want to make one take yourself to primark and buy one of their parka in a pocket jackets in a size small, they are £9 and all you need aside from this is a sewing machine, or even just a needle and thread if you are a fast hand sewer. 



1. Take the jacket and pull it inside out. From the inside sew up the arms (I.e. where the hole for the arm is).


2. Cut off the arms. When you turn it back the right way there should be no arms and it will resemble something like a poncho. 


3. Now go to the very bottom of the coat where there are two separate toggles on strings. Push the coat all the way along so most of the string is free and snip off each string.


4. Go to the inside of the jacket where the zip starts. There is a flap running down the inside. Tuck the end of one of the strings under here at the top and sew it down. 


5. Now tuck it in all the way down and sew the flap down. You want to finish sewing the flap down 1 inch further down than the horizontal strip that has another string and toggle already on the jacket. Repeat on the other side with the other string.


6. Now go to where the horizontal toggle strip is and measure 3 inches down from this and cut the jacket across. Fold up where you cut and tidily sew it up.


7. Take the removed bottom part of the a jacket and cut a horizontal strip from each side (the bits where the string and toggles used to be) about 3 inches wide.


8. Fold up the cut bit of each of these strips under and sew together to make neat straps. 


 9. Take one end of a strap and sew it onto the jacket just above the seam where the hood joins the body, next to the zip. 


 10. Hold the cover up to your body with the hood where baby's head would be and take the strap and loop it round your shoulder, measuring how long to make it and then sew down the other end on top of where you first attached it (see photo). Repeat for other strap.


11. Take the sleeves you cut off earlier and cut out the strap and poppers of each.


12. Fold up the surrounding fabric, shortening the strap a bit by tucking it underneath before sewing each on top of the place you already sewed down the shoulder straps.



Here is the finished thing... from the inside:


  And from the outside:


Here are Stuart and Sandy demonstrating it:



Now to use it! You have three methods of sizing the cover with toggles. The ones in the hood will be tightened to make the hood the right size for your baby's head. The ones down the side and the ones at the bottom both tighten to make the cover a shell which fits over your baby's body.

To secure it on over your sling use the shoulder straps to fix it on top. If you are wearing a bag on  your back you can use the poppers to attach it to your bag straps so it is even more secure. Finally you can tuck the bottom of it under your sling fabric where baby's feet are so it is secured a the bottom.

In total it took me about 2 hours to make but this included working out how to make it and photographing the process so it won't take you long at all.

I'm going to make a fleece liner that can be added to the inside of the cover for when it is colder too, for which I will make a follow up tutorial later.

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