Boho Mama Babywearing Bag Tutorial

Please feel free to follow this tutorial for your own personal use. Please do not consider using commercially - if you do then I reserve the right to name and shame you - please dont disappoint me!

There is another rule though - you must show off your Boho Mama!!!



You will need –

Small or medium rings (either nylon or aluminium) or marine grade rings (you can get them from a marine store but make sure they are heavy duty and 60mm round at least). I have found a great source of beautiful purpose made rings here
Fabric - around 3m of mid to bottomweight fabric (the length is needed for the shoulder strap/tail that runs through the sling rings, making the bag adjustable. It is a good idea to measure on your body first, and judge where you want the tail to end before cutting out your pattern pieces :D)
Fabric marking pen
Zipper to desired width (3cm less than finished strap width is best)
Thread
Ruler/measure

This is your template - its really dodgy but Im pretty much computer illiterate so if someone can whip an awesome version up for the tute then by all means please do!

ETA - the width of the strap should be 13cm (on the fold, so 26cm in TOTAL). Thankyou Hayley for pointing out that I had omitted that!!!

Bag body -



Bag base -



Im going to use the print on the shorter side (the side that houses the rings). So following the template I cut the piece x 1. Use your fabric marker to make a cutting guideline.





Now your first piece should look like this




The lining is the exact same as the short side so then I cut two of these following the template (or just following the first one that I cut)

So now you have three pieces of the short side. Iron the three pieces.

Now use your short side as a template for the long side – just make sure you make the strap length from the bottom of the template to the end 180cm.

If you want to embellish this side with appliqué now is the time to do it.



Now it is time to cut the base – you need two of these. I just cut a rectangle 34x15cm first, then fold in half and round the edges.



Right, lets get this thing together!!!

Lining–

Place the middle of the‘bag’ edges together, right sides facing eachother.





Stitch. Overlock. Press. Repeat for the outer bag pieces.

If you want to topstitch this seam then now is the time to do it. I like to, it makes it look more finished.





Now its time to sew the base onto the lining. Now this part can be a little tricky. I like to pin the centre front and back pieces on first then the centre sides so I have a guide. Make sure you have the right sides together





Stitch and overlock.

Repeat for the outer part of the bag

Turn it out the right way and have a look!!!

Ok, now you will need to hem one side of the lining – this is the one that will be on the strap side, not the ring side.

Ok, now to put it all together. With the lining the right way out and the outer the wrong way, put the outer inside the lining. Make sure the finished edge on the lining is on the long strap side :D




Pin the centre seams of the outer to the lining.



Now pin the whole way around.

I overlock the raw edges together now. If you don’t have an overlocker you can zigzag.



LOOK!!! ITS NEARLY FINISHED!!!!

Now, its time to hem the entire bag – turn the edge in twice (to the inside) and hem. Please take care over the curve of the bag opening, it is quite tricky and needs a lot of patience. You will need to take care also over the seam of the lining on the strap. Just go slowly with your machine ☺. Don’t worry about hemming the ends though as you will do this when you insert the rings and make your purse.





Press the seam, admire your cleverness!!

Now, the seam on the lining IS there for a reason – you are now going to make a pocket, and all you do is put a row of stitching where you want it (you can decide the depth of your pocket ☺.) . Im doing mine 17cm deep.






Time to put the rings in – on the ring side (the short strap side) . Fold the rails into the centre as shown and stitch along the overlocking of the top edge.



Thread the rings, turn the end under and stitch in place. The rings are in!!!





Now if you aren’t wanting a purse on the tail of your strap then just hem the edge and voila!!! BUT if you do want a purse, here we go –

Lay the zipper wrong way up on the right side of the tail. Pin. Sew.



Turn it over, press the seam and topstitch




Decide how deep you would like your purse to be, loop the zipper around to make the desired depth. The other edge of the zipper will be underneath the top, like so



Unzip the zipper and stitch it in place. You will have to slide the zipper head (whatever it is really called!) and kind of sew ‘into’ the pocket to enable access.. I hope that this pic can show you what I mean.



Then just sew down the sides!!!!



FINISHED!!!!



OK, so my strap is too short now with the purse so I have unpicked it and added a tail for the action pics. I have amended all measurements to reflect what length you need so please don’t worry about adding length to the straps although it is a good idea to measure against yourself first before cutting your fabric. Lucky I sewed one as I wrote this tute huh?!