Friday, September 4, 2009

Charlie has her very own swing!

I made Charlie a swing a month ago and just got it hung yesterday. She LOVES it! And it hardly cost me anything. I used a bed sheet (that was ruined...never give a 4 year old silly string!) for one side of the swing and fleece for the other. Both of which I just had laying around, so no money spent there. I made "legs" out of the material and looped them around metal rings from an old ring sling (again, no money spent). Then my stepdad came over and put bolt/hook thingies in the support beam. I went and got big carabiner clips yesterday for $3.50 each. So total cost was $7!!! Totally beats the hundreds of $$$ you'd pay for one out of a catalog.

Please ignore the crummy pics and messy living room.


Charlie just chilling. She had just woken up and wasn't happy with me moving her.


But then she started having fun!


Side view....you can see that it cradles her bottom so she's not going to slide out. And I just noticed her little ponytail sticking out of the top. LOL


Adrian still fits with head support so this should last Charlie a good long while.


I still have to make some adjustments. I made 5 "legs" on each side and I didn't quite get the measurements right so only 3 legs on each side are actually bearing the weight. So I have to take up the other ones a bit. I need each of the legs to bear weight so it can be as sturdy as possible.

Oh and the fabric choices ended up being perfect because they complement each other for strength. The fleece is slightly stretchy but very strong. The bed sheet is not stretchy at all and gives the fleece a little stability. And one is nice and cool for summer and the other toasty warm for winter (yes, I can flip it from one side to the other!).

5 comments:

Rosetta said...

Aw, looks like she is going to have fun! That's what we need to do, make Sierra some kind of swing. She LOVES movement.

Kat - Ruthie-dos.blogspot.com said...

that looks so awesome!! and great use of fabric! You know, I have to kick myself for never mentioning in a comment before that I know people have turned slings into hammocks and such before... I bet charlie would be so cozy and comfy sleeping in a hammock

Adriane said...

Wow, that is really impressive! I have no skill so am stuck forking out the cash, lol! I bet that swing is cozier than the ones online, too - aren't they just mesh or something? Not comfy at all! You should make swings and sell them online :)

Shauna said...

My head hurts from thinking about paying for liability insurance in order to sell them. :-/ Nope, I'll stick to just being responsible for suspending my OWN children 4 feet above the ground. LOL

But if you know someone who can sew, it's really not all that hard. I could tell you how to do it step-by-step.

Anonymous said...

You are so creative!!! That is really, really cool.