Ring Sling and Granddaughter Gift--Finished

Finished Ring Sling

Last month, my daughter asked if I would make her a Ring Sling for carrying her new baby. I hadn't heard of one. Google came to my rescue. I saw Ring Slings for sale. Next, I Googled tutorials for making one. I found a tutorial at The Sewing Things blog. I made two slings for the price of one on the internet. My neighbor and one of my nieces are both expecting babies. So if my daughter likes the ring sling, I may make a couple more!

Parents use a Ring Sling as a carrier for a baby up through a toddler. I used a medium weight linen that I prewashed in hot water. It did bleed; but, I liked the softer hand of the fabric much better after washing. Since I prewashed, it shouldn't bleed anymore! 

I purchased the rings at this site. I found the tutorial straight forward. It took me about two hours to make both slings. One is now in the packing pile of my oldest daughter. She is arriving first to spend time with the baby.

Love Bug pillows

I used 2.5 yards of fabric in this project; but, I purchased it. I didn't add this purchase to my stash so I won't subtract the yardage from my stash either! This was goal number seven on my March list.

My nine year old granddaughter will have a birthday while I am across the pond. I try to make an item for the granddaughters' birthdays. I had a lot of options; but, went with a Love Bug pillow instead. It is a free pattern download through Moda. My friend, Connie, shared the pattern with me last summer. The wings and head are "pockets" which could hold a note or a small book or pajamas. It takes five fat quarters to complete a bug.

Scraps cut into useable strips and squares

For the first pillow, I followed the printed directions. I wasn't that excited about trying to attach the eyes after I had stuffed the pillow. So I fused the eyes in place. For the second pillow, I watched a Shabby Fabrics You Tube video that walked me through the process. I made a second pillow because my eight year old granddaughter will have a birthday next November and she will want her own pillow!

On the second pillow, I attached the eyes before I sewed all the layers together. It took me about three hours to make both pillows. I used 10 fat quarters or two and half yards of stash fabric for this project. I used a 20 ounce bag of poly stuffing for each pillow. I used bias tape for the legs. This tape was in my grandmother's stash. She would be tickled pink if she saw me using her tape in a gift for the granddaughters. She was all about kids! This brought my fabric use from stash total for the year to 32 and a half yards. This was goal number eight on my March list.

I plan to slip a few items into the fold areas of the pillow to make it a "gift" pillow. It was fun to make. Another time, I might try slipping a piece of batting into the opening and then stuffing as the filling didn't fill the edges of the pillow as well as I would have liked. 

I cut the scraps into strips and squares and added to them to my scrap saving system.