I love carrying my baby in a ring sling. (Mine is a Maya Wrap.) It is very comfortable, balances baby’s weight well, and can be adjusted very precisely to fit anything from a tiny baby to a big toddler, awake or asleep, in several positions.
One problem, though, is that it can be difficult to recognize which edge of the sling fabric is which. It’s important to put the correct edge underneath the baby so that the fabric is not twisted behind your back–that’s uncomfortable and can injure you if you keep carrying the baby that way. When you reach for the fabric below the rings to adjust the sling, sometimes it’s hard to find any edge, let alone the one you’re looking for, because the fabric is layered in a way that may not be immediately obvious, especially to a busy parent trying to make a quick adjustment while walking.
Luckily, in just a few minutes you can mark the edges of your sling in a permanent way that is easy to understand!
Simply unthread the sling from the rings and use a sewing machine to stitch along one edge, using a color of thread that stands out on your fabric.
Use a fancy stitch if you can, to make it really easy to see, but if your machine only does a straight stitch that will work, too.
Next, put a different color of thread into the machine, and stitch along the other edge.
Now rethread the sling. You will be able to tell at a glance which edge is which!
The Earthling's Handbook 
Smart! I made a ring sling and made sure that I used a fabric with different colors for the two rails. Same with one of my woven wraps – a rainbow pattern with different colors. I found out the hard way when I made my first DIY woven out of onasburg that was all one color and I had the hardest time figuring out what was top and what was bottom to tighten! Then I learned to make sure to distinguish them. I need to go back and stitch over my DIY one with some colored thread on the edges (or dye it, if I’m feeling adventurous) to fix that.
What a cool stitch you used! It looks like a heartbeat; I’ve never seen that before.
Thanks! It is one of the stitches our sewing machine does, but I’m not sure why–what specific situations it is the best stitch for–and this may be the only time we have ever used it.
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