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Tablecloth Babywearing

Tablecloths can make for great baby carriers! They are often cheaper than bolt fabric at the fabric store, and a jacquard tablecloth is going to be the closest thing you can come to woven wrap material (short of buying Colimaçon et Cie.) Just make sure your tablecloth fits the Four Rules of Fabric Selection and you'll be good! The most popular brand is the cotton jacquard tablecloths by Mahogany available on Amazon.com.

Woven Wraps

A 60" by 104" tablecloth can be cut in half to 30" wide and the raw edge hemmed to make two size 2 woven wraps. A 120" makes a long 2/short 3 and is a popular shorty size. Both of these can also be used as a no-sew ring sling.

Another option, although slightly controversial, is to take your two tablecloth halves and seam them together to make a longer wrap. The suggested method for doing this are a french seam, a flat felled seam, or a 6"-12" overlap. Jan from Sleeping Baby Productions has a great tutorial for doing this. If you choose this method, inspect your seam regularly for wear.

If you love the idea of a long tablecloth wrap but don't want to seam your wrap, there is actually a Facebook group dedicated to ordering custom-sized "banquet runners" from Mahogany - that is, Mahogany tablecloths purposely woven to a custom size that happens to make a fantastic long wrap.

Ring Sling

A 60" wide tablecloth with a minimum length of about 80" can be cut in half and the raw edge hemmed to sew into a ring sling using our tutorial, or you can simply cut in in half, hem the raw edge, and then use it as a no-sew ring sling.

Mei Tai

A 60" by 84" tablecloth or larger is the perfect amount of fabric for a mei tai, as these two tutorials show:

Reverse Onbuhimo

A 60" by 84" tablecloth is plenty to make a reverse onbuhimo. These carriers are for babies who can sit independently and are great for quick and easy back carries! I have personally made this pattern using half of a 104" tablecloth, leaving the other half of the tablecloth for a short wrap or ring sling, although I did utlilize some plain coordinating twill for two of the body panel layers in order to do this.