Wrapless Wrap Baby Carrier

Time for my project for the February Sewing Challenge!  Something for someone you love… I chose to make a sling for the newest addition to our family & he just LOVES snuggling in it while mama works around the house :).

I have had this project planned for months & just haven’t managed to get it done!  This is my first sewing project since little Parker arrived & I am quite happy with it. I had actually gotten as far as cutting one out with test fabric & starting to sew it together but, like I thought, the fabric content wasn’t the same (old jersey sheet) & it just wasn’t stretchy enough to test fit the sizing.  I started that back in January but finally decided this week to say screw it & cut into my good, pricey, fabric. This is a knock off of the ‘Baby Nest Carrier’ from The Baby Nest. I DID take pictures along the way and plan on getting a tutorial up soon but please be patient as I do have my hands full at the moment.

An online friend of mine got one of actual Baby Nest Carriers for her newborn daughter a few months ago and fell in love. When she shared pictures of it I was very intrigued because I love baby wearing! The idea of knit wraps is an awesome one and I wanted to love them but just haven’t. I have tried them with the twins & watched my friend use hers a ton & BUT I personally have a few issues with them…

• I don’t want to spend the time to fuss with wrapping them! I know it gets faster, but for ME it’s just not worth it, I know they are great for others.
• Most of the 100% cotton ones tend to stretch out a bit & get saggy quick with bigger kids.  That being said, another friend has a wrap like the moby that is made with the same fabric I used here & she said it is a lot better which doesn’t surprise me.
• The thought dragging on the floor all the time when your wrapping it grosses me out… I know this can be solved by doing it at home before you leave, but I will often not use one until half way through a trip so it’s just not a great option for me.

SO this carrier/wrapless wrap seemed like a perfect solution for me. I also like that I can quickly & easily switch positions without having to entirely re-wrap. It is similar to 2 interlocked pouch slings (though not curved & much narrower) with a skinny short ring sling belt that wraps around. The hardest thing about not having one to actually full out copy is getting the sizing right, but luckily I did it the first time around and wrote down just how I did that so I can share it in my tutorial.

A few things I did differently from the original carrier are I did double up the fabric instead of doing a weaker single layer (it looks like that is what theirs is from all the pictures I can find but I could be wrong). I think it feels much more secure because of it, as well as looks more finished. Then I also made it a little more fitted because again all the pictures I looked at it seemed a bit saggy, loose and falling off shoulders.

Another advantage to this is it is cheaper then making your own moby style wrap (though that is no-sew project) because you don’t have to get 5-6 yards worth & make 3 wraps when you will likely only use one. I used 2.5 yards of a yummy cotton/lycra (95/5%) jersey that I got on sale at JoAnn’s. Weight wise it is about 13oz per yard which is on the heavier/thicker side for a c/l jersey I believe. I LOVE it, he LOVES it so it’s a win win. I will say right now he is a peanut at somewhere between 7-8lbs (he was 6lbs12oz 1.5 weeks ago) so he sits pretty high because he doesn’t weight enough to stretch it a ton BUT that’s good because it means it won’t sag a ton when he is bigger. I will try to get pictures with a bigger baby or a small toddler in it at some point when I can borrow one.

Here are a few quick pics! I will note I am tired and look it! Though not to bad considering I have a 2.5 week old, two preschoolers & a kindergartner. I also wasn’t thinking & am wearing a black tank top under a black sling so that makes it a little bit harder to tell what is what, but I think you get the point.

Just a quick picture of how the belt secures since I don’t know if they show you in the instructions to the original I showed before…

Well off to change a diaper & feed a hungry little guy, but hopefully I will have more to share soon as I started cutting out the twins Easter dresses today while we had a mini snow storm :).