I have made, oh, about 50 or so of these baby carriers. I wanted to make one after seeing some online and knowing that it wasn’t that hard to make. I looked at many of the designs and figured out what I wanted out of mine. Mostly I wanted it to be pretty and comfortable. After posting mine on a message board, I was asked by many women if I would sell them, so I did for a short time. I even sold some of my carriers to ladies in Europe and Africa! Now, I will be the first to admit that I am a bit burned out on making them, but they are so comfy and versatile to use. They are an oft requested baby gift from my friends, and I just love hearing about people using them for their babies.
I made this one last week for baby boy T.’s mommy. It is black embroidered silk on the outside and a light-weight black blended cotton for the straps. I wasn’t overly happy with that fabric since it had some issues since it was a bit thin. I am not worried about it holding up, though, since I double and triple stitch everything. The nice thing about it though is that since the fabric is thinner, I was able to use a buckle for the waist strap. That just makes it a bit quicker to put on and take off.
And of course the handy carrying bag. Need I even say that I never made a bag for MINE? Of course not, mine are just a jumbled mess lying willy nilly, while I give everyone else a nice bag to put their carriers in while not in use.
I showed Baby Boy T.’s mommy how to use the carrier this past weekend, so I put him in it and he just laid his little head back and prepared to take a snooze. I love it when I see that!
I am planning on putting together my very first sewing tutorial. I had been asked a few times how I make them, so I am going to try to do a tutorial for it. Be on the lookout!
Nice…I can’t wait for the tutorial!
That is by far the prettiest baby carrier/sling I have ever seen! If I ever have another baby, I’m going to have to commision one…because sewing is not one of my talents!
How is Baby Boy T?
Wow that is a really nice Mei Tai. I like the idea of it being silk, and that dark chocolate floral pattern is a great choice. How does the silk hold up in the wash?
Thanks all!
Christina, he is doing alright. The reflux is still giving him problems but they are trying to get it under control. His seizures stopped though, so that is a good thing.
Leslie, the thing with silk is that you can’t really throw it in the dryer. You can wash in cold and hang dry and that seems to work pretty well. The silk does lose a bit of the sheen but it still looks nice. I always prewash in warm and dry the cotton to make sure it doesn’t shrink once made. I had a few mommies that just used it as their “nice” carrier for going out in public. Then there were the ones that used them all the time. They told me they held up well to lots of use. I looked at your site, you have a lot of nice carriers…something for everyone!
I could certainly see using it as a “going out” carrier. Plus you could probably get a whole lot of life out of the silk by just doing some spot cleaning on the heavy drool spots :-).
I also like the bag you made. It is nice to be able to have a real place to store carriers when you are not using them. Honestly, I wish that was one thing more manufactures would supply. Moby Wrap is the only one I can think of that does.
I think Kozy supplies a bag now, but it is just a canvas bag and not made to fit their carriers. I know, it really makes it handy to have a bag for them. 🙂
what a beautiful mai tai! and LOVE the carrying bag too.
i think i love everything you make. 🙂
question for you – do you have an online store for your clothing, etc. that you make? i’m still looking for donations for a fundraiser for API and was wondering if you might be interested. it’s a good way to drive some traffic to your site/store and donate to a good cause. 🙂 email me – amygeekgrl@gmail.com – if you are interested. thanks!