Locate the bottom hem - the part where the wadding is the furthest distance (50cm) from the edge.

Turn over the fabric a couple of times to make a neat edge and pin into place.

pinned bottom hem

Stitch along the bottom hem (slowly and carefully - this is when my needle broke!)

Stitched bottom hem

Turn the sling around so you are now working at the other end, this is the end where the wadding is only 20cm from the edge. It is now time to shape the shoulder part of the sling to take the rings.

With the fleece facing down, fold the fabric in half lengthwise. Pin about 3cm away from the fold down until you are level with the start of the wadding. Then stitch along this line.

First shoulder seam

You need to make two more pleats like this. One either side of the central pleat, half way towards the edge of the thick side seam (but not including it). Once pinned it should look like the photograph. Stitch the two pleats in place.

Pinned seams

Trim the excess fabric away from the three new pleats. Leaving about 1cm along the length and taking care to stop trimming about 3cm before the stitching stops.

trimmed pleats

Fold the two edges into the middle and pin in place.

Folded shoulder strap

Once again, trim away the excess fabric. Then stitch the side seams down to hold them in place (photo shows trimmed fabric without stitched edges)

trimmed fabric

Thread the shoulder strap through the two metal rings.

Threading the rings

Fold the strap over, then spread it out so that it meets the stitched line where the wadding is held in place.

Pinned shoulder strap

Next you will need to Zig-Zag stitch across the raw edge, not only to finish of the edge neatly and prevent fraying but to fix the shoulder strap in place.

You will need to stitch across the shoulder strap slightly higher up to the rings, and then again next to that.

Stitched shoulder

I actually went over each row of stitching twice to make sure that it was very strong.

The rings I bought stated that they would be strong enough for a child 3 years old. So I thought that if it's strong enough for Beth it has to be strong enough for a newborn!

And sure enough...

A sling strong enough for a 3 year old

The only problem I had with the sling (other than the fact I wish I had slightly larger rings) was the fact it was so comfortable Beth didn't want to get down!