Re-Purpose Your Baby Sling

What To Do When You've Stopped Using Your Baby Wrap - 10 options instead of throwing it away!

As a zero-waste company, we are always striving to be more sustainable and we want to encourage our wonderful customers to do the same. We understand how sentimental your sling can be and will show you that once you have stopped babywearing, it doesn't mean it is the end of your connection to that time.

1. Make Fabric Forts

Oscha customer, Wren, shows us how cosy they are inside!

Give your old sling to your little ones and let their imagination run wild. Make fabric forts to play in or cuddle up in your cosy den. Wraps are a great length for hanging over furniture/drying racks etc and we all know making a den is one of a child's favourite things to do! These can be perfect for movie nights and fantasy games!

2. Use as a Hammock

Using your sling as a hammock might be something you like to do to break in your wrap when it is new to soften it up, however there is no reason not to turn this into a more permanent use of your sling when you have stopped babywearing so frequently. Whether it is just a game for your little ones, or a more permanent feature, we think it works pretty well! Some people use the underside of a table and tie it across the legs, which is nice for your little one to play in. You could also buy a set of carabiners and metal rings to make it easy to fasten your hammock sling to hooks.

Oscha customer, Kara, shares how fun these hammocks can be!

3. Create Wall Art

Over the past 4 years I have made a little of everything. Framed panel as well as a quilted panel of fabric.

Rachel

Some beautiful examples of what you can create with fabric scraps from Oscha customer, Alison.

You can keep this very simple and cut a panel from your sling then frame it, they look lovely hung on the wall. Some people stretch the fabric with a wooden embroidery frame and use that to hang their fabric.

If you like to collect fabric scraps and are happy to cut your sling into little pieces of fabric, you could turn your sling(s) into beautiful fabric mosaic pictures. We sell limited quantities of our itty bitty scrap packs on Wednesday's between 7pm-8pm, which are perfect for crafting! We have seen some of our customers do this and it produces gorgeous results. Keep these and frame them as pictures, or maybe you could make it into a notebook cover, bag or even a clock for something completely unique.

4. Toys For Your Little Ones

Slings hold a lot of comfort and security for your little one, even as they start to outgrow being carried. Transform the security of the wrap into a stuffed animal or teddy using fabric from their favourite sling that they used to be carried in.

You can find some popular pattern cutting ideas here. Check out Tenshi Treasures and Four Loose Threads if you'd like one of your slings made into one of these lovely little toys. They are perfect for gifts to new parents too!

I love making heirloom items! Stuffies, capes, pillows, blankets!

Katie

Some gorgeous creations form Four Loose threads

5. Beautiful Fabric Jewellery

Why stop wearing the designs you love? Turn them into jewellery and make some fabric earrings or a necklace. You could even keep this for your child for when they are old enough to wear jewellery. Our scrap packs are perfect for making jewellery like this and are listed on our site during our Secret Stash Happy Hour events, the Itty Bitty size pieces are perfect for jewellery.

Beautiful jewellery by Beesy Handmade

Check out our Pinterest board to learn how to make these yourself.

I have made a number of things, not from my own slings, but from scrap pieces from other vendors who make larger items like bags and stuffies. Magnetic needle minders are my favorite, but I also have made bracelets, pins, key fobs, lanyards, placemats, thumb tack sets for cork boards, etc.

Sara

6. Turn Your Sling Into Clothes

We've seen people make tops, dresses, baby clothes, shoes, bags and even kilts! You can find a simple skirt pattern to follow here, and a top pattern here.

This can be a project of your own or you could reach out to a member of our online community, Clan Oscha, where we have many talented seamstresses, such as Wrapmama.handmade and Babywearing Memories! Just check out some of their pieces.

Toddler vest and tie for my husband. Plushies of various designs and baby booties. Coin purses and key lanyards. I would still like to experiment with a ceo to make a tie as I think it would work better. The tiny oscha scraps are good for fabric collage as well.

Rachel

7. Decorate

Learn how to do a bit of upholstery and have fun decorating your room. Maybe you'd like to try turning your fabric into cushion covers or you might feel inspired to take your favourite Oscha design further into the room, like Clan Oscha member Christine, who did a beautiful job of decorating a whole "Rei Room".

We have seen some lovely pictures of upholstered furniture made with wrap fabric on stools and even bed heads. Have fun learning how to do it yourself or you could try Etsy for some small businesses offering this service.

Beautifully upholstered stool by Clan member, Ali.

Feel inspired with our Pinterest board for some tutorials and upholstery ideas here.

8. Make a Patchwork Quilt

Clan member, Lidia, shows us her amazing creation

This is a beautiful way to repurpose your baby sling fabric as it allows you to take pieces from each of the slings you've used and put them together in a ‘memory quilt' that will make for a beautiful family heirloom. You could even involve your children in making it if they are a little older or you could let them help pick some fabric to go into it. Maybe you have some other treasured fabric from outgrown baby clothes or blankets. It can be passed down through the family and added to when you like - one of the benefits of patchwork! There are also some lovely work at home Mum's (WAHMs) who will do this for you and some who specialise in wrap scrap quilts. Check them out here.

My most precious wraps will be 4 quilts in the future, one for each kid and one for me.

Sarah

9. Use as a Shawl or Scarf

We love to use Oscha fabric to make beautiful shawls, scarfs and loops which are available to buy on our website. Follow our lead and simply turn your wrap into a shawl or scarf by trimming it down to size. This is one of the easier DIY projects, just cut to the length and width you like. For a simple scarf, we suggest half wrap width - about 30cm - x 190cm long. You simply measure, cut and then hem by hand or with your sewing machine.

Starry Night Garnet Cowl - Shop Here

My Croft Venice 6 will be a Blanket, a few wraps will be downsized if possible and stay as Fabric for sewing clothes, as Scarfs or Shawls

Alina

10. Pass It On

Our final suggestion is just to keep the sling for the use it was made for and pass it on to family members or friends that have new arrivals. And what better gift than helping to enable the wonderful bond that babywearing can bring whilst using a loved design.

We hope that you found this blog helpful and it has given you some ideas of what you can do instead of throwing away your sling after you have stopped babywearing. If you aren't looking to re-purpose your sling, you can also sell or trade it on through the lovely Oscha international community Facebook platform OSIC and give your sling to a new loving home. You could even trade it for an Oscha scarf or throw if the right offer comes along! We'd love to hear your re-purposing ideas and see pictures of any of your projects with our fabric. Make sure to tag us on social media so we can see your wonderful ideas and creations!