Thursday, February 19, 2009

My Long Awaited Ring Sling

Finally my DIY ring sling is ready - just right before CNY. It took me nearly 2 months! Thanks to shooi who provided me the instructions, I finally could make my own DIY ring sling. Ah, but it's a bit too late coz initially I was thinking that this could be quite handy when it comes to doing housework while carrying my baby around. Now, she's big enough to 'help' me with the housework too, so I have to be very careful in case she put out her hands and caused accidents.

It started when I took my MIL to Kamdar to buy cloths. I quickly called shooi to ask about the measurements that I should get. Ah, it's very easy - just need to get two pieces of 2.5m long cloth since I wanted to do a reversible sling. I think the standard cloth's width is ~45 inch, so I would have to cut that to 30 inch when I sew the 2 pieces together. I finally found the design that I can accept (it's very limited since I was looking for 100% cotton cloth). Green was not really what I have in mind actually, but I couldn't find other matching designs that I like. I got these two different designs, 2.5m each.
How to sew them together? I didn't know how to sew. I decided to ask my MIL's tailor for help. MIL could sew for me, but she didn't have a sewing machine and was afraid that the thread will give way when carrying a heavy load, so she advised me to get her tailor's help. That's why it took sooooo looong to complete. Coz her tailor was really busy with all the CNY orders from her clients and I didn't feel nice to 'chase' after her. Another friend of mine was really nice to borrow me her Moms in Mind ring sling to try it on.

That time I haven't learn how to use it, so the way I tied it could be wrong. And that time also happened to be the same time when I was to take my MIL to her tailor, so I showed her tailor what I wanted since she had not made a sling before. I passed her my rings as well, which I ordered online from PeekarooBABY in Malaysia. It's slightly more expensive than a US site, but since there was a possibility of the rings being lost in the shipping, I was advised by shooi to order from Malaysia instead. I decided to have the rings sewn in so that it would be a better support to hold the baby. Here's how it look like...
A breastfeeding colleague showed me how to use it. Here's how it's supposed to be put together.

Pulling one of the sides can adjust the inner layer while pulling at the other side would adjust the outer layer while carrying the baby. It's so cool... and the sling can be adjusted to suit each individual's height accordingly. More details on how to use it at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPoa1DoCilQ

The bigger picture...


Hubby couldn't understand why I wanted such thing - he said I look like a maid (LOL!) . Ah, but the kids love it! Sze Yi has been asking me to carry her in it (she's 14kg, luckily the ring can take up to 15kg). And Sze Juin has enjoyed sleeping in it while I did my shopping. I had to cover the rings with the long tail because Sze Juin just loved to bite it.

See, even someone who doesn't know how to sew could make her own DIY ring sling. I did it for fun, and saved about 30% compared to if I buy one.

3 comments:

Pet said...

How long do you think Sze Juin will use it? My son already doesn't want to use the sling. It's now kept in the drawer. Opps.

ablogaway said...

I sure hope it won't be so soon! At least Sze Yi still wants me to sling her...

Pet said...

Alex don't even want to try! U know lar, she prefer to run around.

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