New Project: Montana Mei Tai©

THE MONTANA MEI TAI©
Scandi Style Mei Tai Baby Carrier

After scouring the interwebs for a free pattern and not finding exactly what I am looking for anywhere, I have created a body and hood pattern of my liking by cobbling together bits and pieces and details from several different sources as well as a few bits of my own design. The shape of the body and hood is mostly inspired by the Taitasi Meitai - a traditional Scandinavian carrier made in Norway that is not only beautiful, but VERY pricey.  The method of construction has elements from a widely used and widely loved Scandi Mei Tai Tutorial and another great DIY from Game of Life. I'm quite happy with how all these elements have come together to create what I am calling The Montana Mei Tai©.


I finished designing and drawing my pattern this afternoon and am anxiously awaiting the materials from Fabric.com. I have 3 yards of black heavy weight brushed twill and a yard of purple Minky fleece on it's way! The twill will be for the shoulder and waist straps as well as for the main support in the body construction. The Minky is for a soft, plush lining. I have some really gorgeous purple batik prints that I am going to blend to create the outside of the carrier and a boatload of fleece that I will use as batting to pad the shoulder and waist straps as well as the body of the carrier.  This particular carrier is intended to be a 'cool weather' carrier - seeing as how it will be insulated. When this one is completed, I have plans for a non-insulated 'warm weather' version as well.


I am very excited about this project! Stay tuned for updates. I hope to complete this within 2 weeks, depending on when my material arrives and how much 'hands free' time my girls allow me!


Feb 4th update: The fabric has arrived!! Now to wash it and cut all of the pieces...


Feb 10th update: I have washed and pressed all of my fabric. I am in the process of making some"Wacky Fabric©" out of my batiks: this will be the decorative fabric used for the outside of the Mei Tai. Stay tuned for more updates and a "Stack and Hack©" tutorial for making the Wacky Fabric©. Edit: I have changed Stack and Whack to "Stack and Hack©" (for now), as "Stack-n-Whack" is a trademarked method of making a magic kaleidoscope quilting square. You can read more about it here: Stack-n-Whack. My method is a bit different. 


Feb 14th update: All of my fabric is cut and pressed. The hood is 95% completed. I only need to close the hole where I turned the fabric and add quilting ties to the decorative side. And, of course, attach it to the body. Here is a sneak peak:


Hood before top-stitching.


Applique.


Body: decorative panel - made from Wacky Fabric©

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