A Comfy Conveyance for Laddie -- the Homemade Baby K'tan

I didn't have much in the way of carriers for Little Man when he was small -- I made a Mei Tai, but that was only useful when he was a bit bigger (and he never really loved it). I also had a ring sling, but just didn't like the way it fit. I wanted a Moby wrap, but didn't want to pay the money. Yes, they are easy to DIY, but they still require five yards of jersey (unless you incorporate a seam or two). Plus, I had seen people trying to put them on, and couldn't quite envision mummifying myself in 5 yards of fabric in a parking lot. 

Then I found out about the Baby K'tan -- two big "loops" of fabric connected by a little loop in the back, with a sash for extra support. It had the coziness of the Moby without the excess fabric. They're still a bit pricey (though you can pick one up on Ebay for around $20), but I found a tutorial and made one in brown knit for Rosa. I loved it, and so did Rosa! There's a bit of a learning curve when you first start wearing it, but I dare say it's no more (and probably less) than the Moby. 

But brown knit is rather dull, wouldn't you say? So for Laddie (and future babies, Lord willing) I remade it in my beloved Flight organic knit in "Mineral" by Birch Fabrics. At first I didn't make the sash, because I found I rarely used the sash with my brown carrier. But after wearing Laddie once or twice in this carrier, I realized he was sagging too much and needed the extra support.

Too bad Laddie napped for the entirety of his first nature hike! I'm wearing him in
"Kangaroo" position in this picture, but have since moved on to the "Hug" position.

Of course, by this time I had used up all but one piece of my Flight knit fabric, and I didn't like the idea of covering up most of the carrier with a solid sash. So I squared up the edges of my last scrap and used an incredibly soft and thick thrifted charcoal-colored tee as an accent fabric. I love how it turned out! The dark grey of the accent fabric blends with the lighter grey linen I used for the rest of my "Flight" items (stroller canopy and accessories).

Details? I used French seams and hemmed the edges of the actual carrier (not necessary with knit, but my patterned fabric is white on the underside and looks better this way), and also made a small loop of fabric to connect the larger loops -- just like the actual Baby K'tan (the tutorial I linked to doesn't include this step). The sash has tapered ends, because it's easier to tie on that way. I've been using my Flight knitting bag to store the carrier, because it's easy to grab and throw in the car on my way out the door. Which means I'll need to make a new knitting bag. Poor me... *wink*