Today’s contributor is Crystal from Stitched By Crystal. All posts written by Crystal for Make It and Love It can be found HERE.
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Hello Make it & Love it readers! Crystal here, from Stitched by Crystal, and today I am sharing a tutorial to sew a doll ring sling for your kids! Almost 3 months ago (has it really been that long?) we welcomed our third child. I was a bit worried about how my three year old would handle the transition, but she has done great! She is such a little helper and she went from playing superheroes and monster trucks with her big brother to playing with dolls overnight.
As a new mom of three, I stay pretty busy. I have found that baby carriers and slings are about the only way I can actually get things done around the house. When my three year old saw me carry my son in a ring sling for the first time, she wanted one immediately…“Mommy, you have that thing to snuggle brother in? I want one for my doll!” So, I made up a simple, smaller version of my ring sling for her.
She loves this thing! And it is so cute to see her toting her dolly or teddy around the house in it.
And the best part of baby (or dolly) wearing, is you are totally hands free. This means she can still play superheroes or monster trucks with her big brother if she wants, while still tending to her doll.
This sling works great for dolls, teddy bears, stuffed dogs, you name it! And it is really portable, too. The first few weeks with our new baby in the house she wanted to bring her doll stroller everywhere with us, now we can toss the ring sling in the diaper bag when she wants to bring her doll to Target (which she does every time we go)!
Want to make a ring sling for the little mommy or daddy in your house? Great! Let me show you how!
But first let me add this disclaimer…
**This sling is intended for dolls and the materials and stitching are not meant to hold a real baby, so please don’t use this tutorial to make an adult sized sling. Also, this sling is best for kids age 3 and older and should be used with adult supervision!**
You will need….
***As always, if you need a bit of help with the basic sewing skills used in this tutorial, don’t hesitate to check out the Sewing 101 post for more help.
As I mentioned above I used the entire ½ yard cut of my fabric, it was 18” x 44”.
Start by hemming one of the short ends of the fabric. Fold the end down ½” then another ½” and sew along the folded edge.
Next, hem the 2 long edges. You should now have three sides hemmed.
Fold the remaining unfinished edge over ½”. Draw a line 3” from the fold as shown below.
Thread the end through both rings, line the folded edge up with the line you just drew.
Sew along the folded edge, I find this is easiest to do without pinning the fabric and just straightening out and sewing a couple inches at a time.
Sew a second row of stitches 3/8” from the first row.
Put the ring sling on your child just like an adult ring sling, with the rings over their shoulder and the sling behind their back, bring the tail through both rings then back down through just the bottom ring, get the doll in place and then tighten the sling a bit. To loosen the sling, lift up on the bottom ring.
Ta-da! Your sling is ready for doll carrying!
Thanks for reading!
-Crystal
Check out Crystal’s blog here. Her darling shop here. Follow her on Instagram here. And her Pinterest page here.
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Fostering imagination in our children is one of the greatest (and most enjoyable) responsibilities we have as parents! Here are a few more ideas you might enjoy to help bring out that brilliant imagination in our children:
DIY Zippered Pouch Rocket Ship
Make Your Own Felt Animal Hand Puppets (FREE template included)
DIY Toy Fishing Pole (that reels in)…and Magnetic Fabric Fish
Hi, I’m Ashley—the DIY-enthusiast behind this crazy blog!
