I bought a Hotsling when I was pregnant with my daughter. Now that she is two months old and I am getting back into shape, I realize that I bought it way too big. I got an XL, when I should have gotten a M, so I had figured I had three options, 1) Get a new one in Medium. 2) Get someone to alter it for me. Or 3) Try and alter it myself. I opted for option 3 because option 1 is expensive and unnecessary given options 2&3. And option 2 requires me to drive 30 minutes to the seamstress and 30 minutes back and still pay about $10 for something I could probably do myself. So I choose option 3 which in the end was the right choice because it turned out great and only took me 20 minutes. Below are some pictures on how I did just in case someone else runs into the same problem.
1.) Decide which side to alter – top or bottom. Altering the bottom would look nicer and preserve the look of the Hotsling, but it would take more time and if I made any mistakes I would be pretty much screwed. So I decided to add a seam to the top and take my chances because then the most important part, the bottom curve, stays in place and the top requires just sewing a couple of straight lines across. So the instructions that follow show you how to alter it from the top. On the right you can see what the fabric looks like spread out on the table. I altered the right hand (straight) side.
2.) Turn inside out and baste a test line across the top by measuring down from the top however many inches you determined you need to shorten your Hotsling, marking measurements with pins.
Safety Note: Make sure the basted stitches are at least short enough to hold the weight of your baby for testing purposes. Put your baby in and see if he/she fits after basting. If yes, proceed to step 3, if not take out the stitches and baste across again and test until you get it right.
I am really glad I decided to take this extra step. I had originally figured that I need to sew the seam 3″ down from the top of the Hotsling. However, when I basted the line across at 3″ and put my baby in, I realized that I actually need to sew 2″ down from the top because 3″ made the sling too small for me.
3. If your basted line was the right level, go across and stitch for real this time. You will now have a little flap like shown below.
4.) Put flap down toward the backside and switch across close to the loose edge so the flap stays in place. Alternatively, you could cut the fabric, tuck one side under and then stitch in place so the seam is smaller and resembles the curved seam on the bottom. I chose to not to cut the fabric because I wanted the option of undoing everything if I messed up.
5.) Stitch across the each of the open ends
6.) Trim all of the extra threads
7.) Put your baby in and enjoy. After altering my Hotsling, my baby and I are both much more comfortable using it. She is more secure in there and doesn’t hurt my back at all! I really love this product and wish I had had it when my son was an baby.
The only cavet is that the original Hotsling is guaranteed to hold children up to 35 lbs. I do not know how these alterations will change the weight limits.
8.) Don’t have a Hotsling? You can buy one on Amazon by clicking below.
