Woven wrap fabric

Hello. I want to make a woven wrap so i can wear my 1 year old around 23 lb... (someone shout if that is a bad idea!) I think he is too big for a fleecy wrap

But having never made anything i dont know what fabric to use. I know it wants to be a fairly lightweight cotton material with finished edges but strong enough... so can anyone find me some material online that would do and copy the links, at least so i know what to look for with the technical stuff.

Thankyou! x

I know a few sling sites recommend buying a proper woven wrap rather than using just a piece of fabric. From babywearingadvice.co.uk:

I definitely recommend buying a proper brand named wraparound sling and not just use a piece of fabric from a fabric store. Wrap fabric is woven in a special way (usually broken twill or some other symmetrical twill weave) which has the right amount of stretch and firmness to support your baby well. Also normal fabrics can be quite thin and slippery which leads to you suffering from pressure points and having to re-tighten it all the time.

You'd actually want quite a heavyweight fabric (100% cotton or linen) - anything too lightweight will cut into your skin. And you'd need a fair amount of material, as most wraps are about 5m long, so the price per metre cost is something to consider. You can get preloved wraps from somewhere like Natural Mamas for a good price; often not much more than you'd pay per metre for good quality fabric.

Thanks for your advice. I am a big girl at a size 20 so was planning on making one at about 5.5 m but have no idea what the average cost per m is or anything! I just dont want to buy one and it be too short to fit round me and my chunky toddler!

Ill have a look for a preloved one, that is a great idea thanks!

Have you considered a mei tai instead? It takes much less fabric than a wrap sling (about 2-2.5m of fabric) and I find it much easier for back carries. I made mine and it's great from carrying small and larger babies, toddlers and even my 4 year old. I use mine almost every day on the school run - I usually wear Lily on my back now. Here are some pictures of mine from the summer. Lily's grown loads since then but it's still great for her.




And here's one I made for Charlibunny for her birthday

Kelly

Oh that is gorgeous! The only reason I havnt really considered a mei tei is cos I guess I thought a wrap would be more supportive and I havnt got a sewing machine so easier to make. I have drooled over Bedheads Mooboo mei tais for the last year but could never afford one. (plus i had a mothercare carrier and hated it when Jake was 10lb let alone 23lb!) It wasnt until last weekend when we were out and jake wanted to be carried but got very heavy I ended up zipping him into my fairly tight fleece and doing up the drawstring that i realised there was much more to BW that commercial carriers! I carried him for about 3 hours like that!

I really really want a carrier now lol!