DIY Baby Wrap Carrier - Sewing Tutorial

I made my own wrap!!! VICTORY!! And I have no real sewing skills, so you can  make one too!

A few weeks ago, I posted about how I wanted a wrap made from a non-stretchy woven fabric so that I could begin safely carrying Joseph on my back. I did some googling and found out that most woven wraps are sold for $80 to $100 or more. So not happening. Then I checked Etsy and found some pretty and decently priced wraps at this vendor. She sells woven wraps for as low as $34, which is a pretty sweet deal!

I was tempted, but I decided that I could make my own for cheaper and I did it! I actually did it! Hurray for follow through! Fortunately, it was SUPER EASY!

Mickey is modeling, as Joseph was napping. He's a nice mouse.

I found some really helpful instructions at this site and used them. (Just be careful because my laptop blocked it once for a malicious advertisement. I just reloaded the site and it changed to a different non-malicious advertisement.)

Here's what I did:

Step 1 - I gathered my materials. You need 6-7 yards of fabric 28-30 inces wide, scissors, thread, a chalk pencil, measuring tape, an iron, an ironing board, and a sewing machine.

I already had everything I needed except for the fabric. Since everything I've read suggests that woven fabrics made from 100% cotton are best for back carrying, that's what I looked for. To keep the price down, I limited my search to the clearance section only. I found a pretty 100% cotton blue eyelet fabric manufactured in India for $2.49/yard. (In retrospect, now that I've worn it, I would avoid eyelet fabrics and go for something completely smooth. It chafes just a little on bare skin. Fortunately, it's fall and soon to be winter, and I'm not concerned about bare skin!!)

I was really looking for something closer to $1/ yard, but I really liked this fabric and my girly gene won out over my thrifty gene. I got 7 yards to be safe. You can always tuck extra fabric or cut the wrap down later. With the 7 yards, my grand total was $17.43. Since I only needed half of the fabric to make my wrap, it really only cost about $8.72. (If you get a fabric that is 60 inches wide, it will actually make 2 wraps.)

Step 2: Cut your fabric to the right length and width. The length is up to you, your personal preference, and body type. I went for 7 yards, which is a bit on the long side. I may cut it down to 6 yards one day, but I wanted the extra fabric to work with. For back carrying, the width should be 28 to 30 inches. Remember to add an extra inch or two for hemming. I folded the edge of my fabric over 16 inches, pinned it in place, and then cut along the edge. This way, I wound up with a 7 foot long piece of fabric that was about 32 inches wide. I left it folded in half hot dog style.


Step 3: This step is crucial to a successful wrap, so listen up! Take the excess fabric and wrap it around your head as a turban. Own the look. Pretend you're the Sultan of Sewing. Insist that everyone bow down before you.

You only wish you could have a turban like this.

Step 4: Determine that maybe turbans are not the best look for you... Maybe. Shrug and move on with your life. Turbanless.

Step 5: To make tying your wrap easier, you want the ends to taper to a point. I used a chalk pencil to draw a line from folded corner of the fabric to a predetermined point on the unfolded side. How far back is up to you and depends on how much you want the end of your wrap to taper. I chose a point 1.5 feet back from the end and cut away the unneeded fabric.

When you unfold your fabric, the end should look something like this:

Step 6: If you are sewing a woven fabric, you have to finish the edge with either a serger or by hemming it. I hemmed my wrap. I folded the edge of the wrap inward about a 1/4 inch and ironed it flat.

Step 7: I folded the ironed edge over one more time, ironed it again, and pinned it in place.

Step 8: Finally, I used my sewing machine to sew the hem.

Since I have a really nice sewing machine (Thanks, Grandmom!!) and I'm a girl, I picked a pretty stitch and white thread.

Pretty stitches make me happy. I love my sewing machine with it's 57 different stitch options. I actually used it to make my own wedding veil. Lots of tulle and a scalloped edge. It rocked.

Finally, I sewed an asterisk star in the middle so that I can easily find the center whenever I wrap Joseph. Overall, this project took me from midnight until 4 am. However, if I had chosen a simpler stitch, it probably would have only taken me about 2 hours. The final product ended up being 29 inches wide. Perfect!

And that's how I made my own wrap. I hope that this tutorial made some semblance of sense. It's late and I tend to babble incoherently when it's late. If you are looking to make your own wrap, I hope this helps you! It's a great way to save money.

Back carrying pictures are in your future. As soon as I figure the back carries out... YouTube, here I come!

Maybe Mickey will let me practice on him? He's a pretty nice mouse, after all.

{Embrace} the Camera

Hey everyone!! It's Embrace the Camera Thursday and, yet again, self timer and continuous shoot are my heroes!! (Sorry Superman, but the truth is the truth.)




Reading to Joseph is so much fun now that he is interested enough to pay attention. Ok... Interested enough to grab at the pages of the book.

We've been reading "The Tiny Seed" by Eric Carle the last few days. He also wrote, "Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?" and "The Very Hungry Caterpillar," among other favorites. I really love how bright and colorful his art is (and so does Joseph!).

I am going to have some serious forehead wrinkles as an old woman. It will be SMOKIN' HOT!

Joseph likes to touch the pages while I read. He's even turned the pages a few times by accident. When we read smaller books, he grabs on where I'm holding the book. It makes it harder to turn the pages because he doesn't want to let go, but it's so cute!

Our current favorite book is "Barnyard Dance" by Sandra Boynton. I almost have the whole thing memorized.

"Clap your feet! Stomp your hands! Everybody ready for a barnyard dance!!" Whenever Stephen hears that line, he yells out that it doesn't actually rhyme. Silly husband. (Trix are for kids.)

Whatever. It's close enough. Besides, the rest of the book rhymes. "Bow to the horse. Bow to the cow. Twirl with the pig if you know how!" Do you know how to twirl with a pig? I think it would be rather difficult. Just think about it. Pigs are seriously cumbersome. And all of that mud has got to make them slippery. I really don't think pigs are twirl material.

Did you know that you can also find children's books online? My new favorite online books to read to Joseph are the bluebison.net stories by Hayes Roberts. I can't decide which I like more  - "The Wiener Dog Magnet" or "The Brave Monkey Pirate." His illustrations and storylines crack me up. You should DEFINITELY go read them. They are great for both adults and kids.

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(The site also includes fun printable coloring books here.)

Come on? How can you resist that illustration??

Another favorite activity of ours is to sit on the front porch and watch the cars and trucks drive by. As soon as Joseph hears one coming, he turns his head towards it and then follows it's movement until it's out of sight. He does this over and over. When he gets a little older, we'll start calling out colors and types of vehicles. Those chicken trucks should be very interesting...

Inspired by his striped pants, I decided to tell him a story today. (I do this often when I run out of things to talk to him about.)

"Once upon a time, in a faraway land called Vir-jinny, amidst the tall, dark mountains, there lived a scary baby monster named Joseph. The poor tigers in the land quaked in fear at the very mention of his terrible name. Whenever Joseph got tired, he would stomp throughout the land rubbing his eyes and letting out ferocious roars that would shake the very mountains. One day, a brave little tiger came up to Joseph and asked him to stop roaring. The little tiger just couldn't get to sleep above all the racket. The mean, grumpy Joseph ignored the little tiger's request and sat down on top of the tiger, squishing him flat. From that day forward, Joseph the baby monster stomped around the land with a squished tiger on his diapered butt.  Sometimes, Joseph's mommy made him wear a squished tiger bib to match his tiger-ed bottom (he was a hapless victim of baby fashion). Showing no mercy, the baby monster Joseph would drool all over the bib until it was soaking wet. After all, he was a baby drool monster and that's what baby drool monsters do. Outraged by the horrible actions of Joseph the baby drool monster, the tigers of the land had him arrested. They forced him to wear striped pajamas and put him in baby drool monster prison. There, finally behind bars, Joseph the baby drool monster was forced to serve his sentence sleeping. Peace finally returned to the land and Joseph was never allowed to squish or drool on a tiger again. The end."

Don't worry. Joseph isn't always the villain in our stories... Sometimes he's very heroic and goes about rescuing mommy damsels in distress. Then he gets rewarded with smooches.

And sometimes, we pretend we're living in a musical and we sing about everything we do throughout the day. "Oh, folding laundry is fun! Folding laundry is fun! Hi ho the merry-o, folding laundry is fun!" Poor kid has to listen to his mother sing... It's ok, little man. Between the smooches and the singing, I'd try to eat my face too.

Embrace the camera, people, and embrace the crazy!

Some people keep potpourri or nuts or change or candy... I am not one of them.

I found a home for one of my yard crawl purchases!

The knock-off milk glass bowl has taken up residence in the living room.

But let's take a closer look. It has a very specific purpose...

Yes. Those are pacifiers. It's my new pacifier collection bowl! Or, the Bowl of Previously Lost But Recently Found Pacifiers.

We have lots of pacifiers from our February baby shower and they habitually get scattered throughout the house. Now, they have a home for whenever I find one in the kitchen or the bedroom or in the sandwich shoppe (How in the world???).

It's great way to use the bowl until I find a better use for it!

Eye Believe in the Awesome Powers of Breast Milk

Earlier this month, I took the little guy into the pediatrician's office for his 4 month check up.

Good news: Joseph is healthy.
Unsurprising news: Joseph thinks shots are the devil.
Bad news: I woke up the next morning with my left eye glued shut by sleep crusties.

I swear I'll never touch anything in the pediatrician's office again. Cross my heart.

After a quick visit to the family doctor, my suspicions were confirmed. I had conjunctivitis.

Yes! Pink eye! That means they'll send me home from school today!!

Oh, wait... I'm not 6. Damn it! There's no advantage to having pink eye when you are a grown up. Stupid growing up.

The drops were helpful, but a week later, the pink eye was back.

IN BOTH EYES!! ARGH!

I should really stop touching my eyes. I should really be more diligent about using my drops. I should really move to Antarctica where I can't get pink eye at pediatrician's offices. I should really be friends with the penguins. They don't get pink eye. Right?

Fortunately for me, my savvy PA sister-in-law, Mrs. 5C, was visiting this past weekend. I lured her to my sketch-tastic home with promises of chocolate cheesecake and miles upon miles of yard sales. (And boy did I deliver! More on that tomorrow...)

Anyways. Back to pink eye, the scourge of my habitual eye rubbing existence.

 Mrs. 5C took one piteous look at me and said, "Oh my, are you ok? Is there something wrong with your eyes??"

"Pink eye." I muttered sadly.

"Oh...Just use breast milk."

"SAY WHA?!?!?" My itchy, gooey, puffy, pink eyes widened in disbelief. I couldn't have heard her right. Could I?

"Just put a few drops of your breast milk in your eye about 3 times a day and it should be gone in 24 hours. It worked for Jamie and her family."

Uh huh. Sure. I think it's time to have Mrs. 5C committed. Breast milk in the eye. Ridiculous. No way, Jose.

Oh fine. I'll try it. I guess. She's a savvy PA after all. She knows her stuff. Even if she's a weirdo.

Several drops of breastmilk, one envious baby, one grossed out husband, and 24 hours later, I was cured!

I believe in the awesome powers of breast milk. It can fatten up babies. It can soothe soar nipples. It can cure the pox that is pink eye. Hallelujah, I believe!

Amen.

(Thanks, 5C! Eye love you!)

Milk Drunk Baby

This, my friends, is a milk drunk baby:

That little gummy smirk of absolute contentment on that chubby little sleeping face is a direct result of a very full belly, 7.5 hours of uninterrupted sleep, and fluffy down pillows.

Yes. I said 7.5 hours of sleep. SEVEN POINT FIVE!!!

Excuse me while I prance around the house.

And shout my utter joy to the heavens.

And make pancakes.

And listen to oom pah pah.

Here's something that I never thought about...

When my baby sleeps for 7.5 hours, he wakes up hungry. I, on the other hand, wake up with boobs as hard as rocks. Very, very full boobs.

When hungry baby with no self restraint meets rock hard boobs of sleepy mommy at 4 am, something strange and unexpected happens within the depths of that baby's belly.

The milk does not fit. With one big belch, it OVERFLOWS. I'm not talking about your standard spit up. I'm talking fill up a 32 oz Nalgene bottle with breast milk and dump it on your chest. With several upchuck aftershocks.

Two mommy outfits, one grandmommy outfit, two baby outfits, two diapers, a grounding, and lots of laughter later, we had a sleeping, milk drunk angel who had slept through the night.



Now, mommy just has to learn to put herself to bed when baby goes to sleep, instead of staying up past midnight.

Thank you to the guardian angels of baby/mommy sleep!

Baby Gym / Internet Cafe

Before I begin, I want to clarify that I am not a computer geek. I may know what a processor looks like, but that is purely a byproduct of living with a computer geek. I am not a computer geek. I am a sane, rational person. My husband is the opposite - a computer geek. A plaid wearing, bearded lumberjack of a computer geek with a 5 year old's sense of humor. Most definitely not sane. Sane people don't set 6 computers up in their wife's kitchen and loose Skynet on the world. Or draw dinosaurs everywhere they go. Gosh, I love him. Although, he may be on to something. Maybe sane people should draw dinosaurs everywhere. Hmm.

Anyways.

In a house occupied by a computer geek, 11+ computers (I'm told he needs them for gaming and parts), and miles of wires, you really have to start your kid early so he can keep up:

If you look closely at the above photo, you will see that Joseph is reading his favorite blog and looking forward to rolling around on squishy braided rugs at his Aunt's house. It's part of his morning work out in the baby gym.

The kid will probably start building his own computers any day now. Don't worry. He'll play sports too. And be a stud muffin.

Wait? What's that? Is that a NEW laptop? Don't you people have enough computers already?!?

I know, I know, but my old laptop recently croaked (stupid black screen of gloomy death) and I was without a laptop at home. You don't expect me to go from room to room without a laptop, now do you? Then I wouldn't be able to chat to my husband at work, listen to music everywhere, or google important things like "how to build bunkbeads," "peach cobbler recipe," "which baby teeth come first," and "why is Harry Potter 7 Part 1 coming out in flipping November."

The new laptop was actually a birthday present from my husband. It's a netbook, it's pretty, it's light, it's compact, it follows me everywhere, and it's AMAZING!!! Thanks, Love!

Check out that maniacal gleam of happiness!

Yesterday was my 24th birthday. Sorry. Birfday. I had a terrific day. I spent the morning with my baby and husband, ate tasty coconut cake for lunch, and went out for Thai food with my sister-in-law Theresa (Stephen had to work late :( ).

Theresa had never had Thai food before and I'm glad she liked it. We've decided to have an ethnic restaurant date once a month to try new foods. I go a little crazy eating only American food for long stretches of time.

The coconut cake was a sneaky surprise. Stephen and Theresa got together at her apartment after work and baked it for me. Both of them hate coconut, so it was very sweet of them to bake me a cake that neither of them want to eat.

All of that is mine! Mmm. Cake. Stephen did the icing. Can't you tell?

Thanks guys! It was delicious and I really enjoyed my birfday!

Now I'm off to have cake for breakfast.

Immortalizing Fuzz

After the little guy was born, my Iowa aunt and cousin sent me a kit to mold his little baby feet and hands. It sat around for a while, but one special Theresa Thursday (my sister-in-law comes for a visit once a week) we decided to utilize the kit.

 

 

 

The little guy wasn't too cooperative. He likes to keep his hands in little fists. We had to pry them open. Our first attempt resulted in a "Live long and prosper" hand mold.

Victory! That black stuff in the baby hand crease is fuzz. He's always collecting finger and toe fuzz. It makes me smile.

Thank you so much Aunt Jenny and Cousin Chantel! I will forever cherish his little 2 month old hands and feet.

What's Behind Curtain #1?

This is our downstairs bathroom. You remember our scary pepto bismal pink downstairs bathroom? My sister named it the "Silence of the Lambs" bathroom because of the terrifying substances found in the bottom of the very, very pink tub.

The shower curtain is from my college days. It doesn't go with anything in the bathroom, but I refuse to purchase a new shower curtain for this bathroom until it's been renovated. It's simply there to hide the Silence of the Lambs bathtub. No one ever uses this tub, so I've decided it should be a storage area.

What am I storing behind the curtain?

DIAPERS!!! Thanks to my mother-in-law, we have an excellent supply of diaper wipes & diapers in a variety of sizes. Remember, she's the bargain queen, so she bought all of these diapers on sale with a coupon or on clearance with a coupon.I had been storing the diapers in the bottom of the Pack 'n Play, but they were beginning to overflow.

Mom - thank you so much for all of the baby supplies. We truly appreciate your generosity. The little guy's bottom is especially grateful. Keep on enjoying your hobby! 

Onesie Fail

Happy Father's Day!!

Love - you are such a good daddy! Have a wonderful 1st Father's Day!

Sabbatical

According to Wikipedia, "a sabbatical (from Latin sabbaticus, from Greek sabbatikos, from Hebrew shabbat, i.e., Sabbath, literally a "ceasing") is a rest from work, or a hiatus, often lasting from two months to a year."

I think it's safe to say that I have been on a blogging sabbatical. All blogging ceased after April 1. That was definitely more than two months ago. Yikes. I told myself I would begin blogging after one month. Well one month quickly turned into two months. How did that happen?!?!

In my defense, I've been a little busy taking care of the new love in my life.

More about him and his (oh so brief) journey into this world later.

The good news is that the blogging sabbatical is coming to an end. I have plenty of material to blog about. I've renovated the blog to motivate myself to begin posting. Frequently. I don't promise to blog everyday, but I do promise to blog more than once every two months. So, let the blogging begin.