how long does my ring sling tail need to be?

[femalephish]

I am making myself a ring sling for baby and I got myself 2.5 yards of fabric. It seems like SO much and when I thread the sling there is tons of fabric hanging down. To my knees even, is this how it ought to be? The pics online don't show past women's hips so I don't know. Is there a length that it needs to be to be safe?

I am having a July baby so my hope was as little fabric as possable. Thanks!
-C.

[syd'smom]

It just needs to be long enought to adjust. You need a bit of fabric to put the babe in and then also to adjust for nursing in the ringsling. It also depends on your size and if anyone else will use it. I like the tail to hang to about my hip, when babe is in the rs. That leaves me enough to adjust for nursing, to wrap the tail around the rings if needed and a bit of a cover over babe's head if needed.

Here is a great site (this mama is awesome). All of my rs's are SBPs (since I can't sew) - I believe she has instructions somewhere (she just asks of course that you don't use her design and go into production! I'm not sure how the measurements work as far as starting length and finished length - so check her website - my lack of sewing talent has now truly shown itself! Good luck!

[pixiepunk]

it's largely personal preference. some people like a long flowing 'tail' on their ring sling and others do not. consider whether your DH might be using it (and whether he's bigger than you and might need extra fabric), and also make sure to allow space not only for a teeny newborn but also a toddler as they make great carriers for when toddlers are into the 'pick me up, no wait, put me down, no wait, pick me up' phase, and also consider whether you might want to use the tail as a nursing cover and if so make sure that with a baby inside there's enough length to toss over your opposite shoulder.

if you end up keeping a long-ish tail for one or more of the reasons above, but don't want the length dangling down while you're just walking around, you can wrap the excess around the rings once or twice to get it out of the way.

and if you end up cutting some of the length off, you might use the excess to sew on a little pocket for your keys, cell phone, etc.