As I said in my previous post, My Karma Baby is an AWESOME site that sells baby slings, but also gives acurate and detailed instructions on making baby slings. I've made close to 50 or 60 slings in the past two years so I didn't need to refer to the directions as much, but let me just confirm they were spot on. Also, their sizing chart was very helpful. The sizing piece was actually the main thing I refered to while I made the sling.
I won't go through each individual step, but here are some things I loved about My Karma Baby's "how to" and pictorial tutorial.
1. They go into great detail about fabric, fabric options, and fabric uses. Things like what fabrics are best for summer, swimming/water slings, heavy weight fabric, etc.
2. The pictorial tutorial was clear and consice. I LOVED how clean they kept the photos and how detailed they kept the markings. With the exception of marking the grain and selvedges, they really did a fantastic job.
>>FYI: If you go to make a sling for yourself, you will want to measure aproximately 22 inchis perpindicular to the selvedge (i.e. your selvedge will be to your left and right. You will be measureing the straight grain that bysects the selvedges).
3. All of the steps were clear to a more advanced seamstress. I note that if you were a beginner looking at step three, you would want to really understand that you started with a double thickness of fabric 22 inches wide and aproximately 26 to 29 inches long (from fold to raw edges). You will then fold the double thickness of fabric onto itself. My Karma Baby does a good job of illustrating that there are four thicknesses of fabric, but you can never be too thourough.
4. It's comforting that they are using french seams, but I do think they could have explained french seams a bit more in detail...
>> To complete a french seam you start with the wrong sides of your fabric together. You sew a scant seam (approximately 1/4 inch from the edge). You press open your seam, turn your fabric, press again and sew another 5/8 inch seam from the finished edge of your fabric. Ideally, you will iron your seam to one side, and topstitch your seam almost like you would see on the inseams of jeans. This provides a very finished look with a very durable seam.
5. With regards to the rest of the site, the style of the sling and the pocket I must say I'm more than pleased! Here are some things to consider:
**22 inches is a nice wide sling. Many slings on the market now are 20 to 19 inches wide and that, in my opinion, is not enough to comfortably hold your baby. I've never liked hot slings for this reason. They just are not wide enough for me.
**I love the pocket! That is so wonderful and functional. I loved the pockets on Zolowear slings, but I don't like ring slings...In my opinion the pocket is key.
**The toy ring is fantastic! It's total necessity.
Overall, I think My Karma Baby rocks! How many companies are willing to share their proprietary secrets with the public. They have a fantastic product and they leave a great impression. If you're not up to making a sling yourself, I would highly recommend buying one through them. And if you are in the market to make a sling, their instructions are pretty spot on. As always, feel free to email me if you have any questions.
~M
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