Batik Fabric

Batik Baby Sling

Leading up to the Fourth of July, I knew I would be seeing many babies and

toddlers and I thought it would be the perfect time to try out my Batik Baby Sling!

I made one a few years ago for a friend and I never got around to

writing a blog post about it, so here it is: The Batik Baby Sling.

This sling is a simple loop of fabric and only requires a yard and a half or so of fabric,

which is much less than what is required for most other baby slings! The carrier can

be made using our cotton, knit, or rayon, depending on your preference. Keep in mind

the knit will stretch with the weight of carrying your little one, so you may

need to adjust the size of the loop.

If you’re using our Batik Fabrics, follow these measurements to make your slings:

Cotton/Rayon: bolts of this fabric measure 45″ wide, so if you measure out 1.5 yards

of fabric, you will be able to make two slings measuring 22.5″ wide.

Knit: bolts of this fabric measure 72″ wide, so if you measure out 2/3 of a yard,

you will end up with one sling that measures 2/3 of a yard by 1.5 yards.

Start with the long edges — one edge is going to have a larger seam,

and the other will be smaller. For the smaller seam, press the edges

under 3/8 of an inch to the wrong side of the fabric, fold under 5/8 of an inch.

For the larger child supporting seam, press the edges under 3/8 of an inch

to the wrong side, fold under 1.5 inches to the wrong side,

stitching close to the edge (stitching shown below).

The smaller seam:

The larger seam:

To the sew the loop, follow the instructions for a French seam in the video below:

And then there’s an additional step for this seam – instead of just ironing the seam flat

in the last step, sew it flat as shown:

And here is the finished Batik Baby Sling with some adorable models testing it out!

This purple sling is our knit fabric in Grape Crush (KBFXX5000H):

And here is a mother putting her child into the sling – this configuration is so easy to use.

This sling is one of our knit fabrics in Dragonfly Family (KBFXX4570H).

The sling is also great for nursing!

Towards the end of our day we found another use for the baby sling. Addison was tired of

modeling so her older sister, Harper, showed us a new use for it. You can wrap it around

your infant carrier for privacy and protection from the weather and tie it off

with a rubber band or tie – what a creative kid!

Happy Sewing!