Lose some weight since you first bought your pouch? Sew your pouch too large or measure incorrectly for a pouch you purchased? Want to pass your pouch along to a smaller person?
Unless it's made to be adjustable, a pouch fits a very narrow window of body sizes and types. Luckily, it is very easy to make a pouch shorter by taking it in at the shoulder. It's so simple, in fact, that it can be done without a sewing machine and much knowledge about sewing.
The instructions I have posted here on top are based on a common scenario in my business: a customer wanted a stock pouch, sz 28," to be sized down to 23." She also ordered a custom pouch, sz 23", which I used as a blank to double check my measurements for the re-sized sling. In these pictures, the pink and green stripe is the smaller custom pouch.
At the bottom of the page, you can see how to determine how much shorter a pouch needs to be while wearing the pouch. I've lost a chunk of weight since Lily was born and have had to re-size all of my pouches at one time or another. This is the method I use. If you have any questions, please email me! -Leah Walthery, Sweet Things Baby Slings, LLC.
 | Two pouches, sz 28" and sz 23". The longer is to be re-sized to 23." |
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 | The green pouch is ~5" longer....could've just done the math, but it's good to get a visual anyway. |
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 | Now that you know how many inches you need to eliminate, fold your pouch in half, lengthwise, and measure down from the top crease at the shoulder. Pinch the fabric. |
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 | Fold the fabric over, using your pinched point as the new top of the pouch. |
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 | Using a pin or paper clip, secure the folded flap to the innermost piece of the sling (the back of the sling will not be attatched to the flap.) |
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 | Open the pouch up, spreading the shoulder area and flap flat. You only want to attach the flap to the layers you pinned or paper clipped together. Straight stitch the right hand flap edge to the body of the sling. The sling will remain a tube shape. |
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 | Turn the pouch to the reverse side and stitch the remaining flap edge to the body of the sling as you did in the previous step. That's it! If you took your pouch in more than 2", you might want to add anothe line of stitching in the middle of the flap to hold it a bit flatter. Use at least a minimum of two rows of stitching to secure the flap. |
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 | The altered pouch, worn with the new shoulder seam on the front. 5" is really a pretty large adjustment to make, with 2" or 3" being much more common. However, even at 5" deep, the flap of the fabric is comfortable, looks fine, and even gives the pouch a bit more padding at the shoulder area. |
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 | The altered pouch, worn with the new shoulder seam on the back. |
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Method 1: Re-sizing a pouch a known amount........
These instructions print best in landscape format.
Re-size a pouch to a smaller size:
Basically, you put your sling on with something in it to weight it down (juicy juice bottle was used here). Pull up the fabric at the shoulder so that the sling is under tension and the length feels right to you. Pinch the excess fabric you just made into a flap, fold the flap over, secure in place and sew it to the body of the sling as in the instructions above.
Method 2: Re-sizing a pouch to a length based on what feels right to you........
If you want to "eyeball" your sling fit and skip the whole measuring bit:
By purchasing the DIY Pouch kit or using the free instructions on-line, you agree to not hold Sweet Things Baby Slings, LLC. or Leah Walthery liable for any accidents or damage you, your family or your property may experience with relation to your pouch sling. You also agree not to sell or distribute these instuctions for profit.
Copyright 2006: Sweet Things Baby Slings, LLC.
"A baby is born with a need to be loved and never outgrows it." -
Frank A. Clark