DIY mesh sling

i made a sling. it's pretty much the ugliest thing i've made. 

seriously though, i have little patience, little time and if it can't be done in a nap time, it won't get done. so, today, i attempted to make a mesh sling to wear cora and the new baby in the pool when they aren't feeling a float of some sort. 

none of this is really exact-no real measurements, no seam allowance, nothing complicated. my kind of project!!

so here goes.

materials:

3 yards of mesh fabric. i got mine from fabric.com

a pair of sling rings. mine were nylon 3" rings, purchased at slingrings.com 

a sewing machine

thread (i had an exact match! thread hoarding for the win!)

scissors

1. cut the fabric in half, lengthwise, so you have 2 long pieces. a friend and i split the cost of materials and bought a sample pack of rings, so the total cost was right around $17 per sling, with enough to make 2 mesh slings and have 3 pair of rings left over to make kid slings or whatever else. 

2. hem 3 edges of the fabric, leaving a short end raw. i have read from other blogs that this isn't wholly necessary, however, i plan to use the mess out of this thing and i would like it to stay looking nice. it doesn't have to be perfect. 

3. fold the raw edge like a fan.

4. thread through both rings, folding the mesh back on itself, wrong sides facing each other. i pulled about 6 inches through.

5. sew the folded over fabric together, enclosing the rings.

{confession: i may have broken my sewing machine briefly, which explains why this thing looks so horrible. it seized up, some alarm went off and the machine practically screamed, "YOU ARE DOING SOMETHING VERY WRONG!!!!" right before my needle ripped out. so. yeah. i fixed it and it worked again, but make sure your fabric is not too bunchy in there. spread those layers out. you are welcome.}   

5a. i sewed a couple of lines to really secure the fabric and to make it a little more padded. you don't need to. it doesn't do anything fancy, but it did make it a little more cushiony, so mission accomplished. still, ugly as sin. 

that wonky part at the top is where my machine started to freak out. it looks terrible. but it works! and you can't even tell when it's on. 

6. that is the end of the sewing part. if you know how to thread a ring sling, you are ready to go. if not, check out some youtube tutes for help. i like this one. it's long, but she's brittish and thorough. =) 

7. put baby in sling. get in water. viola!! 

 this was done in about 20 minutes, during nap time. the most frustrating part was the machine malfunction, but after fixing that, it was super easy. if i were a more patient and trained seamstress, i definitely think i could have made this look better, but for the purposes i need it for, it's excellent.