Attachment Parenting
Tonya_G
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AW: First attempt at making a ring sling...
Tonya_G
member
I still need to reinforce the shoulder- it just has a simple stitch all the way through. And it's a little on the short side... I washed and shrunk the fabric, but may not have gotten enough. 
At least it's for a friend of mine who is on the petite, short side- she should be able to pull it off! But I don't think it looks half bad!
And can I add how much I love these colors together... I choose gold and hot pink for my own RS, but it's going to be really hard not to go to the fabric store and get some of this for myself!
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Re: AW: First attempt at making a ring sling...
That looks wonderful! It's so pretty and it looks very sturdy/safe. The shoulder is nice and wide!!! It'll be even better when you're done.
I can't tell. What kind of stich is that around the edge in the last picture? Did you sew it right-sides together then turn it inside out and top stitch?
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It's silk- you stitch around the outside (silk does best when it's double layered), then turn it inside out, kind of like a pillow case, and stitch the perimeter again. The open end you fold over once, stitch to close up, then put through the sling ring (which I bought at www.slingrings.com)- you can google make your own ring sling to find ways to do the shoulder- I did a gathered shoulder by just making a straight stitch across, and like I said, will have to reinforce that with some decorative stitching to make it more sturdy. It's really easy.
You can wash silk, but, I just learned a hard lesson about it- some colors do NOT wash well. I'd suggest whatever color you choose, get a small sample (like an 1/8 of a yard or so) and wash it (delicate cycle, cold). Most colors wash well, but I found a gorgeous green that has red in the crossweave- when I washed it, the red bled- it now looks copperish instead of green.
It's still pretty, just not the color I was going for. And since I was making it for a friend, I'm basically out the $ I spent on that whole length of fabric, as she doesn't care for the new color. I'll find something to turn it into though!
Oh, and silk shrinks when you wash it- about 5 inches or so. So whatever length you want it to be after you wash it, (you don't have to wash, btw, you can always dry clean, but for me, that's not very convenient for a baby sling!) make sure you purchase a little extra.