Triple Book Slings

Do y'all remember the list I posted about all the things I wanted to finish in the nursery before the baby comes?  Well, I've completed my first task...book slings! I first came across the idea on Pinterest and then found a tutorial here.  It's a really simple project...if you just make one. I of course had to jazz it up a bit and make three. Still a simple project, just a little more time consuming. 

Here is a picture of what the wall looked like a few weeks ago. Cinder block shelves, a radio that is too far from a plug to work, and a random star (which I have plans for!) 

Classy.

The colors in the nursery are tan, aqua, and green. I never planned on those being the colors, it just sort of slowly happened. I like it though. It totally works because the gender of our babies is always a surprise, so everything has to be gender neutral. Plus I'm plan on stuffing both rugrats into this room...even if they turn out to be different genders. Should be interesting. If any of you moms out in blogland have advice on having two under two share a room, please, do share!

I'm getting off subject - back to the book slings. I wanted to make three of them (we have a lot of books) and I wanted them to all be different sizes. Books come in all different sizes, why shouldn't book slings? I didn't want the giant books always looking like they are going to fall out, or the tiny ones to get buried.

After crunching some numbers (and measuring a lot of books) I came up with my three sizes. (All are 39" wide.)

Large:  42", which would make for a 8.5" deep final product

Medium: 36", 7" deep final

Small: 30", 5.5" deep final

Here they are all cut out. (Sorry the pics are dark, I did this at night while watching Band Of Brothers.)

Next, I folded them in half (pattern sides together) and sewed along one short side, the long side, and 3/4 of the other short side. The opening is left because the next step is turning then inside out (right side out?). 

Once you have them pattern side out and looking pretty, stitch closed the opening. Next I laid out my sling and dowel to make the rod pocket. I gave mine a little more room then I thought I needed and made them 2 inches. Good thing too, because I later returned these dowels and got thicker ones.

Here are the double curtain brackets I bought from Amazon (you can buy them here). They're beautiful and super sturdy, but when I opened the box I instantly thought "crap, I have to return them!" Why? They're HUGE. Like way bigger than I thought they would be. They stick off the wall at least six inches. When I got back on Amazon to try and find something that would hug the wall a little more, I found that they are all that huge. Who knew? I was actually kinda relieved, I wanted this project to be done, and not be waiting on snail mail returns. I've got a deadline to meet!

Hanging these beasts turned out be quite a task. Sometimes (okay, most the time) something so simple turns out to be a huge PITA. I knew I wanted them in studs - they are going into a little boys room, they WILL get hung on. 

As usual, here is the little man helping me with my crafts. If you are a frequent reader of my blog you may be starting to wonder if my kid ever wears clothes...

No, he doesn't... not unless we leave the house. Why make more laundry?

Once they were all hung up, I noticed a few things that were funky about it.

 The top one was way too shallow (and crooked) and the dowels were already starting to bow. 

I had a little leftover fabric, so I went to measure it. I was hoping it would be bigger than 30 inches.

It was 33 inches, barely enough to make a difference. I decided to make another anyway. Here is the new little sling next to the old little sling...

Since I hadn't cut the dowels yet I decided to return them and get something thicker. I'm not sure what size they were but I can tell you that they had yellow ends. I moved up to the purple ended ones, I think they are just a little less than an inch thick. 

Good thing not many men read my blog, they would be rolling their eyes at my dowel description. It's like when men give directions, they say "take so-and-so street west, then turn south onto whatever....". Women say, "take so-and so street till you get to the bridge, then turn right at the house with the ugly yellow trim...."

Anyway, here is the final product! I really like how it turned out, it's very sturdy and can hold a lot of books.

Elijah (clothes-less, as usual) approves as well!

And now I get to cross something off my nursery list. Crossing something off a list feels oh so good. 

(also, I've finished the ottoman, so I'm going to cross that off to. I'll post about that when I finish the chair.)

• Sand and paint chair and ottoman
• Reupholster chair and ottoman
• Make and hang book slings
• Make and hang shelf
• Move Elijah's crib and name letters
• Buy and assemble new crib
• Make star decor
• Make new baby name letters
• Paint closet
• Sort and organize baby clothes
• Remove closet door
• Buy/make and hang closet curtain
• Make growth charts
• Buy another dresser for closet
• Organize closet
• New cloth diaper set up    

Linked to:

Mad In Crafts, Keeping It Simple, The Girl Creative, Dittle Dattle, Home Savvy, Running With Glitter, CraftOManiac, Between Naps on the Porch, The DIY Home Sweet Home, Sew Chatty, Be Colorful, Making The World Cuter, Lines Across My Face, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Polly Want A Crafter, Life Made Lovely, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Confessions, Bella Before & After, All Thingz Related, Sugar Bee Crafts, Sassy Sites!, Me and My Boys, A Bowl Full Of Lemons, Creative Itch, Not Just A Housewife, Oops I Craft My Pants, Homework, Nothing But Country, Reasons To Skip The Housework, Tip Junkie, Sweet Little Gals, Cherished Bliss, My Girlish Whims, Savvy Southern Style, DIY By Design, Sew Much Ado, Blue Cricket Design, Someday Crafts, Southern Lovely, Women Who Do It All, Handy Man Crafty Woman, The Thrifty Home, Lil Luna, Passionately Artistic, Raising 4 Princesses, Eisy Morgan, Creations By Kara, Saved By Love, Yesterday on Tuesday, The Shabby Creek Cottage, Beyond the Picket Fence, House of Hepworths, The 36th Avenue, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Happy Hour Projects, French Country Cottage, Design it Chic, 30 Days, delicateCONSTRUCTION, Shabby Nest, Freckled Laundry, Chic on a Shoestring, Design Dazzle, Fingerprints on the Fridge, Fun to Craft, Finding Fabulous, A Little Knick Knack, Designer Garden, 504 Main, Serenity Now, Remodelaholic, Let Birdz Fly, Addicted 2 Decorating, Tatertots & Jello, Lolly Jane, Be Different Act Normal, Nifty Thrifty, Under the Table and Dreaming, I Heart Nap Time, While He Was Napping, Playful Decor, Ginger Snap Crafts, Young House Love, Bower Power, House of Earne