Jag took charge of Griffin and gave me an hour and a half of uninterrupted sewing time today, part of which I used to whip up a ring sling for carrying Griffin. (Yay clearance fabric from fabric.com!) Jag has to head back to work next week, and I need a good way to deal with getting stuff done while being alone in the house with the baby. The mei tai carrier we have, although it’s great, will be more useful when Griffin has better head control, and I find the Baby Bjorn hard to use without assistance. The ring sling is a lot more versatile in terms of ways Griffin can be positioned in it, and he can nurse quite discreetly in it, which makes it a great choice if I need to take him somewhere. Also, mommy can actually go to the bathroom without trying to find a safe place to put the screaming baby down first. Ahem.

Griffin took to the ring sling right away; he really seems to like being upright enough to bob his head around and see things, and the sling supports his neck when he needs it. I also like that I can see his little face at all times and make sure he’s breathing well. Not only did I get to play with my drop spindle for the first time in months and months, his evening fussy period was a lot less fussy while he was riding in the sling. I even managed to get him to fall asleep in it and successfully extracted him without waking him up. He’s been asleep in his bed since 9:45pm. Mwahahahaha!

To make the sling, I used a home-dec-weight 100% cotton (sturdier than quilting cotton, but not stiff like a canvas) and this pattern from Maya Wrap. (The rings are special very sturdy rings from slingrings.com.)