Sesame is more and more interested in playing with her dolls lately so I whipped up a super simple ring sling for her to use. I chose a ring sling so that she won’t outgrow it any time soon and I hardly had to do any measuring. Unlike the clothes I make for, she loved it immediately! So far she’s carried around 2 of her dolls, a teddy bear and a little stuffed puppy (not at the same time) and she’s getting pretty good at putting them in the sling herself.
This only took me about 1/2 hour to make and I’ve written up my instructions below so you can make one for your favorite little person. I used velcro to attach the fabric to the rings so that if she pulls hard enough, or get it stuck on her, it’s easy to get it off. She’s still pretty little and having a closed loop of fabric around her neck would make me nervous.
Supplies:
1 piece of fabric about 20 inches by 45 inches (add a few inches if you’ll be turning under the edges and seaming)
2 metal rings, 1.5-2 inches in diameter
A couple inches of velcro
**Please note that this sling is only meant to hold a doll, never a real baby! I know you’re smart but I feel like I have to say that anyway. The rings I used came from a hardware store, but you could find some at a craft store. Slings for real babies use specially tested rings and have really secure stitching to make sure it’s safe. This sling has none of that.**
Finish the edges on all sides. I used my serger (the 1st time I’ve used it without any frustration, thank you very much!) to do a simple rolled hem. Of course, you could could turn under the edges and seam as well, but then you’d want to start with a slightly larger piece of fabric.
Gather one short edge to make it smaller. I did 2 accordian folds that meet in the center as you can see in the picture, then pinned it into place.
Cut your velcro pieces and pin into place. My pieces are about 3 inches long and the strips are 2.5-3 inches apart. I sewed 4 lines across this edge, catching each of the long edges of velcro in the seams.
Thread the end with velcro through both rings and attach the velcro. The picture shows the 2 seams that show on the right side of the sling.
Fold the other end in half horizontally and thread through the rings.
That’s all there is to it!
so cute! i love when babies take care of their babies.
Too cute!
so just saw your comment on my blog about our girls having stuff in common, I ordered her one of those dolls just today and she has a green Maya Wrap Ring Sling waiting for her for once #2 arrives and she wants to “wear” her dollies