'Shallowing' your pouch

31/7/08

In my attempts in encouraging DIY, I find that many have made a pouch too deep, thinking that more fabric is better? Where babywearing with pouches is concerned, please note that more is most of the time NOT GOOD...

In terms having more fabric lengthwise, you'll end up having a pouch too big that's killing your back...

And, when we talk about having more fabric widthwise (anything more than 23", in my opinion), you'll have a pouch too deep and this is especially not good when we are talking about wearing newborns.

Many of you will find that, even with a ready made sling purchased from a vendor, the pouch could still be too deep for your newborn or too deep for your liking.

Here's what I've put together in 'shallowing' your pouch - the easy, no sew way. More of for times when you need it that way for certain stages... If you need it to be permanently shallower, you'll need to be able to sew, makes sense? Also, read M'liss Stelzer's article on correct positioning.

Ok, here goes.... The first two pictures gives you the measurement of a ready made pouch, unfolded and folded...



Lie the pouch flat on the floor (with practice, you don't need to lie is flat... you can just fold it holding it up :))

Depending on how shallow you want it to be, fold the edges back accordingly. Here, I am folding it back by about 2 inches on each side...

With both sides folded, this is how it would look:

Folded before you put on, it looks like this:
As you can see, the measurement now is only an 8 inches deep pouch as opposed to the 10 inches deep pouch that we started with :)

If you don't like how the 'other side' is showing, you can always fold it inwards... but bear in mind that the folded fabric might get into your little one's way especially when we talk about newborns in the cradle carry position :

~Jess T.