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How to Make and Use a Ring Sling

Basic Breakdown of Steps

Pick a safe fabric

An ideal fabric for a ring sling is made of natural fibers like cotton or linen, has no stretch, and is a bottomweight fabric - that is to say, heavy enough that you could comfortably make men's trousers out of them. If you are unsure, check out this page on picking safe fabric that goes more in depth.

If your ring sling is going to be used in the water, you'll want to follow the guidelines for picking a safe athletic mesh fabric. Unfortunately, natural fibers like cotton should NOT be used in the water because they can absorb the water and get exponentially heavier (not to mention the chlorine in pool water can irreparably damage the fabric.) Likewise, a mesh water sling is not recommended for dry use. Mesh slips dangerously when dry and can be very diggy and uncomfortable. As a note, unlike most sling fabrics, mesh does have some stretch in one direction, but should have NO STRETCH lengthwise.

A popular choice for ring slings is using a cotton tablecloth. A 60" wide tablecloth that is at least 84" long can be cut in half and will only need one raw side hemmed. (Bonus: the other half can be used to make another ring sling for a backup or a gift. Or, if your tablecloth was 104" or longer, can be simply hemmed and used as a size 2 woven wrap.) A jacquard woven tablecloth will be soft, floppy, and feel a lot like a woven wrap conversion ring sling. A printed tablecloth will have a blank wrong side and a thinner, tighter weave but are still perfectly safe to use and are often less expensive than jacquard tablecloths. Whatever tablecloth you choose, make sure it passes the 4 Rules of Fabric Selection.

Buy the right amount of fabric

For a ring sling, length is simply a matter of how long you want your tail to be. A minimum length of 12" of tail beyond the rings is recommended for safety, but anywhere between this and knee-length is safe. A longer tail can be used as a nursing cover, sun shade, or burp cloth, or can be wrapped around the rings as a cushion or rolled into the top rail as neck support.

The chart below shows FINISHED length from rings to tail. The last column indicates the yards needed in order to account for 20% shrinkage, 5" shoulder depth, and 1" for the hems. Keep in mind that fabric like duck and most tablecloths will only shrink 10%, so you could get away with less fabric, but some shoulder styles like floating gathered may require more fabric. The "total yards needed" is just a ballpark.

Do not agonize too much about what size ring sling you need. Aim for the approximate size you think you are. As an example: I am a US size 8-10, 5'7" woman. I wear a small unisex t-shirt and vary between medium and large womens sizes and I can safely use anywhere from an XSmall to an XXLarge sling safely. The usable range is extremely flexible.
When in doubt, buy enough fabric for a size up. You can always hem the tail shorter later.
A properly sized ring sling can be used easily for either newborns or large toddlers. A ring sling is sized for the wearer, not the child.

Ring Sling Size Chart	Finished length rings to tail in meters	Finished length rings to tail in inches	Finished length rings to tail in yards	Total yards needed (includes 5" shoulder depth & 20% shrinkage)
Width	0.7m-0.8m	26"-32"	0.7y-0.9y	n/a

XSmall	1.7m	65"	1.8y	2.37 (buy 2 1/2y)
Small	1.8m	70"	1.9y	2.53 (buy 2 1/2y)
Medium	1.9m	75"	2.1y	2.7 (buy 2 3/4y)
Large	2.0m	80"	2.2y	2.87 (buy 3y)
XLarge	2.2m	85"	2.4y	3.032 (buy 3y)
2XL	2.3m	90"	2.5y	3.2 (buy 3 1/4y)

Scour

This step is MANDATORY if you are using osnaburg. Skip straight to washing/drying if you are using any other fabric.

Most fabrics are highly processed, cleaned, and dyed. Osnaburg is not, and therefore the fabric is built up with a ton of chemicals and mysterious junk. Scouring is a deep cleaning the removes what a simple hot wash cannot.

Instructions for scouring vary, but the common ingredients are:

Steaming/Boiling hot water
Blue Dawn Dish Soap/Fairy/Synthropol
Soda Ash
An hour long hot soak

Soda ash is "sodium carbonate" - not to be confused with baking soda, sodium bicarbonate. You can buy it in the laundry aisle under the brand name Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda, in pool supplies as PH+, or you can make it from scratch by baking baking soda in the oven until it changes from a powdery texture to a more crystalline one.

Some people prefer to literally simmer the fabric on the stove in a non-reactive (not aluminum) pot (if you do, it is recommended to not use the same pot for food.) An easier option is to pour boiling water into a cooler and shut it to keep the heat in. I scoured mine in the sink starting with boiling hot water and just kept the sink covered to keep it hot enough. After an hour, my water was still steaming hot. The important thing is just to keep in hot - whether you do that through direct heat or just insulation is up to you.

As far as amounts of soda ash and soap, for a size 6 wrap I’ve seen everything from “a few teaspoons of each” to “several tablespoons of each.” Don’t agonize too much over it. I always aim for “a generous scoop/squirt of each.”

After an hour long soak, making sure to turn the fabric so it is all soaked, properly appreciate how brown and stinky the water is, then toss your fabric into the washer for a good hot wash with a wrap-safe detergent.

Wash & Dry

Regardless of your fabric choice, you'll want to wash your fabric before you start in order to get any and all shrinkage out of the way up front. The general recommendation is to wash your fabric however you plan to wash it in the future, but I prefer to start with a very hot wash and hot dry to get any and all shrinkage out of the way in case someone were to "help" and wash my wrap for me.

You'll want to use a wrap-safe detergent. In general, wrap-safe detergents:

Are free of dyes and fragrances
Have no added fabric softener
Are liquid, not powdered
Have no optical brighteners

Popular brands include Ecos (despite the label, there are not any unsafe fabric softeners in this detergent) or Seventh Generation.

Dye

(Optional) Dye with a baby-safe dye. Join the Facebook group Dyed Baby Carriers for more info. While it is possible to dye a ring sling after sewing the rings in, it is much easier to do and much easier to get an even dye job beforehand. If you dye after the rings are sewn in, you will want to wrap the rings in plastic wrap and then duct tape (turning the rings to make sure you also wrap the part inside the shoulder) because the washing soda used in the dye process will destroy the finish on aluminum rings.

Rings

A key part of the ring sling is the rings. Never use rings from the craft store, as these have not been weight tested and can break under weight. The best source for sling rings in the United States is Slingrings.com, but you can check the Materials Sources page to see where to order rings in your country. If you don't want to order rings online, you can check local cloth diaper or babywearing stores, or ask if any moms in your local babywearing group have extras they could sell you.

In an absolute pinch, you can use weight-rated o-rings from the hardware store. You'll want 3" rings with a very smooth weld line. Any kind of bump or raised area from the weld will wear out your fabric faster than an un-welded ring, and a rough weld can outright rip your fabric. Note that hardware rings are not tested to be free of dangerous metals for baby and are not designed for this purpose. They will also be significantly heavier and harder to adjust than a real sling ring.

If you are ordering official sling rings, you may have the choice between nylon or aluminum sling rings. Both are equally safe and rated to a minimum of 250lbs. The difference is mainly aesthetic, with most people prefering the thinner aluminum rings.

As far as size goes, refer to the chart below.

Large Rings

Aluminum Ring Dimensions:

Inner Diameter: 3"
Outer Diameter: 3.5"

Great for ring slings made from osnaburg, duck, tablecloth and purpose woven wraps.
Great for beginners
Makes for easier adjustment, less likely to get bunched in the rings.

Medium Rings

Aluminum Ring Dimensions:

Inner Diameter: 2.5"
Outer Diameter: 3"

More grip; less likely to slide and need readjustment, but more difficult to adjust.
Better for ring slings from thinner fabrics such as 5oz linen or silk.
Preferred by some advanced wearers.
Okay for water wraps; may slip, especially when dry.
Good for ring finishes on most purpose woven wraps and some grippier DIY woven wraps like osnaburg or jacquard tablecloth conversions.

Small Rings

Aluminum Ring Dimensions:

Inner Diameter: 2"
Outer Diameter: 2.5"

Good for mesh water slings
Perfect for onbuhimos, reverse onbus, ring-waist mei tais, and ring tais.
Good for ring-waist pouches.
Usable as toy loops on carriers or for doll ring slings.

Cut to width

Re-measure after washing and drying and cut to length if needed. Cut the width down to between 28-34” (for a finished hemmed width of 26”-32”.) If you bought a 60” wide tablecloth or 60" wide bolt fabric, you will simply need to cut it in half lengthwise to be (approximately, after shrinkage) 28” wide. Some fabrics, including osnaburg and duck, will “snip and rip” straight. Simply snip about 1" of the fabric at the right width and then rip it down the length. If you aren’t sure, test near an edge. Otherwise, you can measure and iron a straight line and then cut along the crease.

As for cutting the length, I would suggest waiting until your sling has the shoulder sewn in and you can test it, then cut the tail to your desired length and hem the bottom at the end.

Hem your edges

After washing and drying your fabric for shrinkage (and scouring it if it was osnaburg) hem the two long edges. You can hem the end of your tail at this point if you are confident in the length, or you can wait until the end when you can try it on with baby. That way, if the sling is too long, you can cut the tail shorter and then hem it.

Hem with whatever method you are comfortable with. A double folded hem of between 1/4”-1/2” is typical. You can iron and pin your hems before sewing, use a rolled hemming foot, or just pinch press them like Jan does in this video. Serging not preferred, but is okay (although the rails will not be as strong and more prone to damage, especially where the rings will be rubbing them.) Hemming by hand is tedious but safe.

If you really want perfect mitered corners, this is my favorite video that shows how to do it (yes, the video is about dinner napkins. The technique still applies.)

It doesn’t matter too much what thread you use for the hems. Any all-purpose thread is fine. Just keep in mind that while polyester thread is stronger, if you plan on dyeing your sling later, polyester won’t take dye, so use a thread matching the FINAL color of your sling. Unless you are an experienced sewer, avoid “heavy duty” thread, as these can jam up your machine and cause all sorts of frustration if you aren’t used to adjusting the tension. Again, since hems aren’t “structural,” feel free to use a straight stitch, zigzag, or even a decorative stitch for your hems. The main point of the hem is just to keep the folded fabric in place.

Pick & Sew Your Shoulder

Shoulder styles are a completely personal decision. What works for one wearer may not be comfortable for another, and vice versa. There are unfinite ways to sew the shoulder, which further complicates the matter. That said, the three most popular shoulder styles are Pleated, Hybrid, and Gathered. A little about these:

Pleated

Hybrid (including Eesti)

Gathered (including Floating Gathered)

Shoulder is pleated evenly across the width to bring width down where it goes through the rings. It is then folded under and three lines of reinforcement stitching are sewn very close to the rings.

Uses the least amount of fabric for the shoulder.

Lays neatly on the wearer's shoulder - no bunching or tangling.

Easy to get the shoulder portion spread evenly, but does not spread very wide.

Less likely to have the edges dig, but also does not distribute the weight of the baby quite as much as a gathered would.

Generally (but not always) preferred by very small, thin wearers who feel overwhelmed by the wide spread of a gathered shoulder.

A few pleats on each rail, with the center of the wrap left straight to gather naturally. The fabric is folded through the rings and the three lines of reinforcement stitching are typically sewn fairly close to the rings. A "floating eesti" shoulder can be done with the stitching 9"-16" away from the rings; in this situation, you can add stitches lengthwise along the folds of the pleats in order to keep them neat and in place.

Qualities are typically a balance between pleated and gathered. Less potentially diggy and spread than a gathered, but better weight distribution than a pleated.

"Eesti" is a specific style of hybrid shoulder developed by Karen Hoppis.

Shoulder is left to bunch/spread naturally. Fabric is pulled through the rings, folded over and can either be sewn straight across with three lines of reinforcment close to the rings (for a traditional gathered shoulder) or further away (9"-16") for a floating gathered.

Easiest style to sew.

Can be more finicky to adjust on the shoulder; floating gathered especially, due to the double layer over the shoulder, can get bunched and tangled.

Floating gathered has two layers of fabric across the shoulder, which adds cush and padding.

While a poorly adjusted gathered shoulder can result in diggy rails, a well-adjusted gathered will give the best, most even weight distribution for longer wearing.

Jan from Sleeping Baby Productions has a guide here that goes even more in depth. Once you pick out your shoulder style, check out Jan's tutorials on her YouTube channel. Make sure to use three lines of reinforcement, and use a 100% polyester all-purpose thread for strength. As far as the raw edge is concerned, you can either fold it under when you sew the first line across or you can serge or zigzag the raw edge before constructing the shoulder. In general, serging or zigzagging is less bulky in pleats, but either is fine.

Sleeping Baby Productions tutorial videos:

Optional: Pockets and Accents

Pockets and accents can be a good way to dress up a sling, encorporate a fun patterned quilter's cotton on top of a coordinating safe fabric, or decorate the tail (especially on a tablecloth or duck sling with a blank wrong side.)

Some ideas can be found here.

Learn to use it

Current Babywearing International safety recommendations include wearing babies upright tummy to tummy (not in a cradle carry position) to help ensure a clear airway, and legs outside of the the sling in an M position from birth to make sure baby's weight is on their bum instead of their feet. Be sure to review the TICKS rules for safe babywearing before starting!

Print this card out and fold like an invitation for your own reference, or if you are giving a sling as a gift: HowToUseYourRingSlingCard.pdf

My favorite ring sling videos:

Alyssa Leonard - 2016-07-16

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I	Attachment	History	Action	Size	Date	Who	Comment
pdf	HowToUseYourRingSlingCard.pdf	r4 r3 r2 r1	manage	1049.3 K	2016-12-29 - 03:36	AlyssaLeonard
pdf	Ring_Sling_Tutorial.pdf	r1	manage	1659.7 K	2016-07-16 - 15:03	AlyssaLeonard	Ring Sling Tutorial

Topic revision: r12 - 2017-02-07 - AlyssaLeonard

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