I was perusing Etsy one day for baby toys and toddler items (always looking for new, fun things!) and saw these ADORABLE swings for sale. Instantly obsessed, I favorited about ten of them and put the bug in my husband's ear that we were going to be purchasing a $150 baby swing. I'm sure you can imagine his reaction to that.
After a little more consideration (and rejection from my husband), I decided I could prrrrobably make one myself. I know how to sew and it would cost a fraction of the price. And I love a good DIY! So here's what I did:
Supplies:
- 2 yards of fabric (I chose a thicker material in hopes that it would survive outside- there were no outdoor fabrics that I liked so I improvised)
- Small pillow for the back (optional)
- Light-loft batting (I purchased a small bag, you'll want about 2 yards to be safe)
- 3/4" thick dowel rod cut to four 16" sections
- 3/16" braided nylon rope (check the working load limit, mine is 90 lbs)
- Steel O ring for the top connection
- Wooden beads for decoration
- 6 large beads, 4 medium beads, 4 small beads
- Drill, vice or clamps, and a 7/32" drill bit
- Sewing materials (machine, thread, pins, etc.)
Instructions:
Step 1: The first thing I did was the pillow/case. I measured the pillow I had, added about 2" around the entire thing and cut my fabric. Turn the pieces so when you sew it'll be inside out, and put your first seam around three sides. Turn it right-side out, push the corners out so they look good (you can trim off the corner fabric so you don't have so much inside), and sew the three sides to make the seam on the outside of the pillow case. Then I put the pillow inside the pillow case, folded the open edge to create the same look as the other sides (ironed that), and sewed the final seam. The pillow is sewn in the case! I considered putting a zipper on one side so I could wash it, but I didn't have one that size and didn't want to go back to the store. #lazy
Step 2: Next I cut all the fabric and batting for the swing. I guessed on sizing and it worked out, I think it's actually perfect! Here are the sizes I cut:
- two fabric pieces 13" x 16" for the back of the seat
- two 13" x 39" for the bottom and sides of the seat
- two 6.5" x 12" for the front of the seat
- one piece of batting for each of those sections
Here's a drawing of the measurements because I forgot to take an actual picture! I included some poorly-drawn stripes so you can see which direction the fabric went.
Step 3: Pin the back and the front sections together how you're going to sew them. You're going to put the fabric pieces face-together, like you did for the pillows (AKA inside-out) and then put the batting piece on top of that, then pin them.
Step 4: Sew! Sew three sides of the back section, leave the bottom edge alone (because you're going to sew that into the seat), and sew three sides of the small front section (again leave the bottom edge open because you're sewing that into the seat as well).
Step 5: Flip those right-side out.
Step 6: This is the unnecessarily complicated part for a non-sewer. Put the first piece of the bottom and side fabric down, right-side up. Then put the back piece down *centered in the middle* (you'll have to fold it so you only have the open edge along the edge of your seat fabric), then the front piece down *also centered* with the open seam on the edge, pin those in place, (it should look like the picture below) then put the other bottom and side piece down, face-down, then the batting on top. So you're basically just doing the same thing you did for the others but you're adding the back and front pieces in there to be sewn in. I have sewn for my entire life practically and yet I was mentally struggling with this, thinking I was doing it wrong.
Step 7: More sewing. Flip everything right-side out. It should look like the original set up above but all sewn and with the fabric facing the right directions. Woohoo! Iron the seams if needed and stitch around the entire edge again.
Step 8: Cut and drill your dowel rods. If you haven't yet, trim the dowel rods into four 16" sections. Mark a spot 1.5" from each end for your holes and drill them out with a 7/32" drill bit.
Step 9: Depending on the size of the holes in the wood beads you purchased, you may need to drill them out wider as well. Mine had smaller holes for jewelry, so they weren't going to fit the rope I had unless I made them larger.
Step 10: You're almost done! Sew your fabric around the dowel rods. I pinned the fabric with enough room for two long stitches about 1/2" apart (seams? stitches? No clue what the technical term is, see the pictures below!).
Step 11: Assemble the swing! Cut two long sections of rope and tie them around the O ring, leaving for long pieces dangling down. Make sure you're assembling in the right order (I definitely needed help for this part, you just need more than two hands!). Hang the swing where you're going to put it and tie knots in the rope at whatever length is right for your hanging spot. We burned the ends of the rope so they won't unravel.
That's it! You're done! I'd say from start to finish this project took about 4 hours to complete. That was with many errors on my part and having to rip seams and redo things. Total cost was around $50-60. Totally worth it, in my opinion! I may even make some more as gifts now that I know what I'm doing.
Let me know how it goes if you make one, I'd love to hear!!
Xo,
Kate