I decided to tackle the most challenging thing on the "baby crafting list" last night. This Mei Tai (a traditional Asian style) carrier was surely it, given that I had no pattern to go by and did a lot of guessing. I'm very pleased with the result though! I know it looks like a simple piece of fabric with ties on the end, but wow, it felt a lot more complicated than that. The whole body piece is padded (cotton quilt batting), and the straps are padded as well. It was a bit tricky to figure out how to get the straps sturdy and strong enough to actually hold a baby (or child, as you'll see in a second!). I'm not sure I could ever remember how to do it again (nor want to!), which is a bummer, 'cause wouldn't it be cool to have this in a bunch of fun fabrics?
Here it is in trial action this morning (forgive the quality--it's a dreary day here with little batteries left in the camera!). It seems like with each babe, I've had a carrier that I was really attached to--with Calvin it was the New Native Carrier, and with Ez, it was the Maya Wrap. Perhaps this is the one for baby #3!
Yes, I'm wearing that over my belly--he's kind of on the side like a hip carry. In the last picture you can see Calvin who insisted on trying it out too (and look at sad Ez in the background that his turn is over!). I wasn't exactly thinking 45 pound child when I sewed my seams, so let's hope they're strong!
