A few questions about sewing/designing my own mei tai

[Smokering]

I want to make a mei tai for our currently gestating baby, and bought some gorgeous beigy quilting cottons to make it outta. But I have a few questions:

1. How necessary is a sleeping hood? None of the tutes I've found had a padded strip at the top for the head, although I've read that's a good alternative to a hood (but wouldn't be hard to make, I could figure it out!).

2. I want to put a big pocket with a box pleat on the body portion of the mei tai, so I can fit a nappy and my purse and so on in there - essentially doubling as a handbag. I HATE having straps everywhere, and using a mei tai and my backpack-type handbag would mean I was constantly pushing straps back and feeling bulky and unglamorous. :p I also hate handbags you have to hold, like clutch purses. So anyway. I just looked up a few ways to tie the mei tai, and they all seem to cross over the body of the carrier, meaning the pocket would be kind of hard to access (and it might look kind of funny). One mei tai even had stretchy, WIDE straps that ended up covering the entire body of the mei tai - which was a cool idea, but I wouldn't be able to get into the pocket at all. So. DO you think I should make the whole pocket separately - essentially a pocket-shaped bag, rather than stitching a square to the backing fabric to form the pocket - and just use Velcro at the top of the pocket and the top of the carrier to attach it after it was all tied up? Any reason that wouldn't work? So the pocket would be over any criss-crossed ties, hiding them from view. And if I were just wearing it around the house, I could leave the pocket off. Does that make sense?

3. Padded waist straps are a Good Thing, no?

4. What about the shoulder straps? I liked the way the stretchy wide ones worked, but I already bought woven fabric (and matching the colour in a knit might be a pain, although Ir ealise functionality/safety/usability is more important than cuteness!). How about if I made the straps quite wide and pleated them where they joined onto the body of the carrier, so they got wider towards the ends? Would that be any better than regular four-inch straps, given the woven fabric, or would it be pointless? Would you recommend padding the "top" X inches of the shoulder straps?

5. Some of the tutes I found recommended using canvas between the cottons. Is this necessary for strength?

6. I saw one carrier (a commercial one, not on a tute) that had the sides of the carrier curved in, like ) ( . It was supposed to make it easier for newborns when they start having their legs out to the sides. Any comments on that?

And... anything else I should know about sewing a mei tai? :)

Thanks!

Edited by Smokering - 12/5/10 at 10:38pm

[SilverFish]

quilting cotton is NOT strong enough for a mei tai. get a heavy weight cotton for the straps at least... something like upholstery weight, or like you'd make khakis out of. not so thick that you can't tie a good knot though. if you're not sure about the weight of your fabric, try this... cut a long strip off and tie it around your waist, the way you'd tie a mei tai. wear it around for a while. if the fabric is thin enough that it has bunched up into a tight knot you can't easily untie, it's too thin.

i have a mei tai with a sleeping hood, but honestly, it doesn't really work too well. i use it as a bit of a sun shade, but i don't know if i'd bother with anything more than a curved top if i were going to make another one.

i do however love my curved sides. fits my older petite baby beautifully, and feels and looks less bulky and more attractive on me.

padded waists i'm torn on. i like my slightly padded (like just a tiny bit, so it's not just two layers of cotton cloth) waistband. more padding would probably be better weight distribution, no padding would be less bulky, but kind of uncomfortable. i do like a bit of padding on the top straps too.

the pocket sounds great! place it a bit higher and regular sized straps shouldn't cover it. otherwise, maybe something pouch-like that can slide on the bottom strap? i feel you on hating the excess straps... add a jacket and scarf in there and i sometimes feel like i'm drowning!

[Smokering]

OK, you're right, quilting cotton will be too thin. Sandwiching it with canvas would be fine though, right? I think I bought it thinking of woven wraps, which can safely be made of pretty flimsy material. Totally wasn't thinking! Oh well... it's pretty. :p

I thought the sleeping hood might be more trouble than it was worth. We had one on our (barely-used) Ergo and it never seemed to do what it was meant to. Oh well, yay, less work. :) What do you mean by "curved top" - curved upwards, I assume? Padded or just a plain edge? Did it need any kind of stiffening to hold it up?

[cyclamen]

I'm pretty sure someone tried knit straps and they ripped out.  I have never put a sleep hood on any of my carriers and I get by fine without it.  I sometimes use a scarf instead of a sleep hood.

I like the )( sides too.

And I love my padded waist.  I use several layers of fleece and stop just a bit beyond the body.  It's awesome.  I've made both a MT and a full buckle carrier this way.

[TiffanyToo]

If you google Jan Andrea you will find a number of Mei Tai patterns, material suggestions and tutorials.

[AislinCarys]

I made my mei tai (and have made some for friends). I use black calico and 2 different coloured panels (+for the hood), made of the cotton prints (quilting fabric, I think).

I wanted it to be a bit less hot than the Ergo. But I chose to use double fabric for the shoulder straps as well as everything else, to make it stronger. I use it all the time, with my almost 3 yo, with no problems.

I wanted wide, spreadable straps (30 cm wide over the shoulders). You fold them in to put them into the actual body-part of the carrier. And you can taper them off, they only have to be 30 cm over the shoulders, so even if you tie around the waist (and not under leg) with a little baby, like we did when DD was younger, it actually doesn't cover up much, it tends to scrunch up. And once you cross it under the baby's bottom, you leave the whole panel free.

I wanted a sleep hood, so I made the mei tai with straight edges, so there are edges for the straps themselves, and the top is where the hood fits in. Very simple. And I use double layers of fleece for 60 cm in the waistband.

[ABO Mama]

Also check out the DIY forum on thebabywearer.  You can find links to lots of free tutes, and plenty of advice.