baby wrap/ sling questions

[selena_ski]

i was going to do the moby style wrap to babywear, the piece of material i had isn't going to be long enough, and i can't find any fabric lightweight enough, cute, and not 6-7 dollars a yard. (not willing to pay that for 5+) yrds.

can i cut the width and make it longer, would a seam comprimse the structure?

and now DH wants a ring sling, i am not sure i could handle one shoulder because of back problems, what benefits does a ring sling have? should i make a padded one or unpadded one? should i buy metal or nylon rings? would i use the same cotton gauze?

[lizabird]

I think I can answer a few of your questions. I only have experience with slings, and I made my own. I used a woven cotton quilting batik fabric that I got from JoAnn fabrics for about $4/yard (on sale, and they have sales a lot, or you could use a coupon for 40% off). I used the nylon rings from slingrings.com and never had a problem with them. I prefer padded slings. I have one solarveil unpadded sling and 3 batik cotton slings with a light padding around the edges, and the padded ones are much more comfortable for both DS and myself (the padded edges didn't dig into his fat thighs).

I think the sling could possibly trigger your back problems, but not necessarily. I have had a lot of back problems and didn't have any trouble using my slings until DS was about 25 lbs and then he was just too squirmy anyway for a sling and we switched to an Ergo carrier.

I hope that helped a little

[Goddess3_2005]

You definately can split it down the middle and then french seam it. I have a wrap that I made 2 years ago that has held up perfrectly. Just avoid doing this with a guaze, I am still scratiching my head at why people are making slings out of this super flimsy fabric.:

[selena_ski]

why wouldn't you use a gauze, what would be better in a desert than a lightweight fabric?

[myducklings]

Originally Posted by selena_ski

why wouldn't you use a gauze, what would be better in a desert than a lightweight fabric?

There's different thickness gauze you can buy. I think it is great for a wrap. Gypsymama wraps are beautiful.

If you're trying to make a wrap to save money, think it over. Unless you buy very cheap fabric, IMO it isn't worth it.

You can buy a gently used Gypsymama gauze wrap for about $50 shipped to you, and you will be able to resell it for between $40-50 when you're done with it if it is still in great shape. So the cost to you for owning an already made wrap at the end will only be around $10 or so.

If you make your own, you might spend $30 on fabric plus your work if you hem it and might not be able to resell it at all, or only for a very low price.

HTH