How to make an arm sling for a toddler or preschooler

sling 026I realize that this particular tutorial won’t be of use to most people, but we’ve had a rash of bad luck the last 5 months, and I know how it feels to be in desperate need of a miniature sling and not be able to get one. Luckily, I sew and could make one. I wanted to provide a tutorial for people in that same situation. As long as you have a sewing machine, even if you’re not much of a sewer, you can handle this!

So, my almost 4-year-old son has broken each of his collarbones since January. Yes, both! And doing just minor things, like going down a slide and landing wrong. The urgent care gave us a sling the first time that was tiny enough for him, but it got lost. I soon found that you can’t just go to Walgreens and buy a tiny sling. I also found out that insurance only covers the first one and that they are very expensive to replace out of pocket. Furthermore, I found the one they gave us was pretty crummy. It didn’t stay in place at all. So I made something that worked much, much better (not to brag!). Luckily, little kids heal quickly and we found that each time he needed the sling for 3 weeks max. The healing process takes longer than that, but he felt good at 2.5 to 3 weeks each time. Hopefully, if you’re in the same situation, your baby will heal up quickly, too.

And I hope this tutorial can help you whip up a little, tiny sling if you find yourself in such an unfortunate situation!

 

Supplies

Minky Cuddle Dimple - Red
Minky Cuddle Dimple – Red
Allsport Crimson / Black
Allsport Crimson / Black
Velcro
Velcro
Webbing
Webbing
Approx. 1" D-ring (2)
Approx. 1″ D-ring (2)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The pattern

Cut two of the pattern pieces — one from outer fabric and one from lining. Cut from webbing one piece 25″ long and two pieces 3″ long.
Cut from Velcro one piece (with both sides) 3″ long and one piece 5-1/2″ long. From this one we’ll use one side 5-1/2″ and the other you can trim to 3-1/2″ if you want (see tutorial for more information).

Unfortunately, due to the borders required to make this print properly, this didn’t quite fit on one page. Print both pages and line them up where the letter “A” is. Tape together and then cut out pattern.

Where it says “Fold,” place that edge on the fold of the fabric so that when it’s cut, the piece opens up double the size. That fold is what will end up being underneath the arm.

Toddler arm sling pattern

 

The process

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A mini sling. 🙁
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Your pattern piece is uneven. The side shown at the right in this photo is longer.

 

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Fold it in half. Stitch along the long edge only, using 1/2″ seam allowance.
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Turn it right-side out.
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Do the same with your lining, but don’t turn it right-side out. Just leave it inside out.
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Next, cut your webbing. For the main strap, you’ll want it about 25″. I did some zigzagging at that spot first and then cut it to prevent fraying. It’s a bit easier to stitch and then cut because it’s hard to stitch right along the edge after the fact.

 

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Baste the strap to the outside of your sling where the seam you sewed before is. Place raw edge of strap at raw upper edge of bag. The zigzag edge you did on the strap is at the other end — the end that will be free.

 

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Cut two mini-straps measuring 3″.

 

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For each mini-strap, loop it through a D-ring and match the raw edges. Then place the raw edges along the top raw edge of the sling, about 1″ from the front edge, as shown. Stitch in place. Repeat on the other side, so the two strap line up on either side of the sling.
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Place the outer sling inside of the inner sling so the right-sides are together. Pin along the top edge. You can also pin along the front edge at the same time, if you’d like. Because I’m using minky and find that it can sometimes stretch and shift, I did this in two steps. The key things here are to ensure that all straps are tucked in between the layers and to make sure you leave a hole for turning somewhere.
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Stitch all the way around the top and also in the front, but leave a hole. Here is the hole I left for turning in the front of my sling.
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Turn it right-side out. On mine, the hole is in the front edge there.
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Straighten out the edges so the lining is not sticking up, pressing as necessary. Pressing isn’t great with minky, so I didn’t press mine. Then top-stitch all the way around the sling, tops and front edge. Make sure your straps are out of the way.
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Here’s a picture of the top-stitching.
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Now we just need to do the Velcro. Cut a piece 3″. Place at the top of the lining side about 2.25″ from the open, front edge.

 

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Stitch in place.

 

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Add Velcro to the strap. Please examine my photo to see the general placement and which side of the webbing it goes on (click photo to enlarge it). Both pieces of Velcro go on the same side of the webbing. The Velcro closest to the end of the strap is about 5.5″ long. It’s placed right at the end. The other piece is about 3.5″ and is placed 10.5″ from the end. You might want to try it on the child and make sure of the placement first. My child is nearly 4 and of average to tall size. A smaller child might need different placement.

 

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Stitch Velcro in place. The way you put the sling on the child is to place their arm in the sling. Then wrap the strap around their neck, loop it through the D-rings (both at once) and then fold the strap back up and Velcro the strap to itself. Velcro the top of the sling closed to keep the arm from sliding forward and out of the sling.

 

Other views

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