This week in the 52 Week Sewing Challenge Group we are tasked with sewing something green. I also signed up for a blog tour called the Breaking Ground Tour which is tour about working with something ground breaking for you. I opted to combine these two challenges in sewing not only something completely out of the wheel house for me but also making something for my husband and daughter to share. Stick with the entire post for a contest at the very end!

Flosstyle Patterns was amazing enough to offer patterns to bloggers for free and I chose the Kanga Carrier because I have never made a Flosstyle pattern or an actual baby carrier before (I have however made soft structured carriers for dollies).

I love babywearing, it has strengthened the bond I have with my child plus allowed me to have freedom while shopping, provide a safe space for my child when she is overwhelmed and made it so much easier in high-paced, crowded spaces. I personally have never been much of an actual soft structured carrier fan, preferring to use woven wraps and staying away from waistbands because I have an incredibly short waist, however my Sweet Pea had far outgrown the Ergo carrier that my husband uses on the rare occasion that he wears her. So rather than buying a new carrier, I figured this was the opportunity to really stretch myself and break new ground with both a new designer and pattern style (see what I did there).

So off to find supplies for the carrier I went. First, I allowed my daughter to pick out her fabrics and she chose a vintage inspired science themed fabric that had been in my stash for quite some time and green duck fabric since green is her favorite color. Finding webbing and buckles was a bit more challenging (as is finding foam for the structured part of the carrier). I opted for using a yoga mat because they are readily available and super easy to find then ordered my webbing and buckles from Allielane in Abbyville which has kits that have all the supplies you need for making your carrier.

Once I got into the actual project sewing, as intimidated as I was, I found it to be very smooth with the instructions from Flosstyle. It took me roughly 5 hours start to finish and found the most complicated and frustrating part of sewing the carrier to be getting the padding into the straps. Incidentally, I found the tip of using pantyhose to help with making the padding slide in easier incredibly helpful. I feel like if anyone wants to make the leap to making carriers for themselves this is a great pattern to start with that is very easy to follow and confident beginner friendly.

Now you ask how do I like the carrier? Surprisingly for not being a fan of soft structured carriers I find it very comfortable. I feel like using the yoga mat was huge in helping with my personal comfort level as it is flexible and mold-able without feeling stiff. It also meant that I had thinner straps which I found infinitely more comfortable. Unfortunately, my husband wasn’t able to try it out prior to this post going live but I think he is going to love it (and I’ll get pics of him and Sweet Pea in it and add them to this post once I can)!

I loved the experience of making the carrier and look forward to when the day arrives that I need the preschool sized one, I will be confident in my sewing ability to make one then!

***this post includes affliate links and the Kanga pattern was provided for free becauseI participated in this tour.

Welcome to the Breaking Ground Blog Tour 2018. This week over 20 bloggers are joining together to break new ground by trying a pattern designer that is new to them, try new techniques, new styles, or whatever way they want to push themselves.

The Full Tour includes all these creatives… we hope you’ll visit us each day:

Monday March 12- mahlicadesigns, Sewing Vortex, Sewing A La Carte, Little Heart Threads, The Sewing Scientist

Tuesday March 13- Musings of A Seamstress, A Custom Clothier, Octaves of Color, Aurora Design Fabrics, Sew Altered Style

Wednesday March 14- Flaxfield Sewing, Chook n Duck, Tales of a Tester, Sewing By Ti, Sewing Vortex, Kathy’s Kwilts and More

Thursday March 15- Very Blissful, Manning the Machine, Sew and Tell Project, Musings of a Seamstress, Stitches by Laura

Friday March 16- Lulu & Celeste, Tenille’s Thread, Sewing A La Carte, The Bear and Pea Atelier, Aurora Design Fabrics, Sprouting Jube Jube, Kathy’s Kwilts and More