Sorry for the lame-o title. I couldn’t resist.  🙂

A good friend of mine introduced me to the Baby K’tan infant carrier this summer, and she said she loves hers. It’s soft, stretchy, breathable for baby, comfortable and supportive for mom… What’s not to love?

…Well, the price… They’re $40 at Target! And its just 2 strips of fabric!! So I  made my own for $12. With 2 yards of jersey knit fabric I created this sucker in less than 20 minutes.

I chose a rayon/spandex blend from Stylishfabric.com. Some of their jersey knits are $4/yard! I ended up only needing 1.5 yards to hold my tiny newborn, but you may use more for a bigger kid.

Cut two strips, 18 inch-wide, 60 inches long. Cut one in half length-wise, creating 3 strips: two 30 inches long, one 60 inches long. (The 30 in strips are perfect for my 9-10 pounder. You might add 1/4 in for every additional pound of baby.)

Set the long strip aside. Sew the ends of the two shorter strips together, creating two loops. (They might seem small, but they will streeeeeeeetch once you add your Chunk-o-Baby.)

NOW YOU’RE DONE SEWING!!
(Jersey knits don’t need finished edges, they don’t unravel!)

Gearing up:

Put one loop over one shoulder, then cross the other over the other shoulder.

Put your lion, I mean, Baby over your shoulder, and tuck their feet inside the X.

Check out that cute post-baby-belly-pudge! 😉

Spread the bottom layer of the X over baby’s bottom, then the top layer.

You can tuck in their head if they don’t have the whole neck-thing down yet.

There ya have it!

The longer strip is optional, but I found that the extra support it offers is MUCH better on mama’s back. Center it across your belly, under baby’s bottom.

Cross it over in the back, and bring the ends back around. Tie it in a little knot under baby’s bottom and spread it out.

Now pat yourself on the back and ENJOY!! (For more info and positions, visit babyktan.com)

Without the support-sash.

With support-sash.