Tutorial Tuesday Baby Carrier Podaegi

Ok, so today's tutorial was chosen out of pure selfishness!  I really love this carrier because of the simplicity of it.  And as I announced yesterday, we're adopting from Korea, so a Korean baby carrier makes sense huh?!  

The official name of this carrier is a Podaegi, but it may be known as a "pod" or simply "Asian style" carrier too.

 I love that the blanket is usually a quilted affair (toasty for winter) and can be done in almost any way you can dream up for a quilt or keep it simple and use these directions!  This is really a free for all!  

There really is no such thing as the "typical" podaegi.  They can be as narrow as your back and the child to be carried, or wide enough to wrap completely around mom. 

Here are some pics of moms wearing different versions.

Get the idea??

Here's a great video of how to wear your Podaegi:

or for a newborn

They can be front carry, back carry, no shoulder straps (torso) really, any way that feels secure.

So, here goes with the tutorial!!

First, cut two straps from heavy weight fabric (this will be the weight bearing part of the carrier so think denim or home interior fabric)  The length is going to vary from person to person.  I recommend at least 5.5" wide and for my height and fluffiness I used 100" long (I ended up trimming off about 10" on each side after trying it on) remember, you can always trim off something too long but it's a lot harder to add it back if it's too short!

So, for my example I cut 2 straps, each measuring: 5.5" by 100"

1 yard fabric (still folded from the bolt)

Flip your yard right sides together.

Sew completely around edge using 1/4" seam allowance.

Now, this part will depend upon how thick you made your straps.  If you followed the example your straps are 5.5".  Once they've been folded in half and sewn together you'll have a strap that's 2.5" wide or (width of strap/2)-.5"for seam allowance.  This is how long your going to want to cut off of the corners.  (You'll be sliding your strap in this whole)

Cut both corners for the top of the blanket.  

Fold your straps right sides together lengthwise and sew together.

Now comes the fusible fleece.  Using your blanket for a pattern cut out the fleece and iron it on according to instructions.  You can do the entire blanket for a fuller look or you can just do a head rest like I did.  If you are using a completely quilted blanket for your carrier, you could just skip this part because you'll be padded already!

Attach the fusible fleece to the straps as well, you're shoulders will thank you!  Start about 4" from the end so you won't have the bulky fleece to worry about when stuffing it inside the blanket later.  The first 4" will be what goes inside the blanket.

Turn everything right side out (I know, those long straps are a pain!)  You should see the size of the safety pin I use for this part!

When everything is right side out you can iron now if that's your thing!  You've just seen my iron...it's obviously not my thing.

Place the straps inside the blanket and pin just before the start of your fusible fleece.  Don't forget to tuck in your corners of the unfinished edge of the blanket.  This part reminds me of finishing a pillow.

Now, back to the machine.  You're really going to want to make sure this is really strong.  This is where the weight will be carried.  I use a box stitch here and reinforced it several times.  I also took a couple of trips down the padded part of the strap to make sure that the padding doesn't slip around.

Now, try it on with your baby and decide how much strap you need.  If it's too long, trim it up now.  You can finish the raw ends of the straps but tucking them inside and hemming it up!

Congrats, you've just made the easiest carrier to use on the planet!!