Water Bottle Sling for Dummies: A tutorial.

Ever since carrying 87 pounds of water bottles around all last summer in a backpack I've been meaning to sew little water bottle slings / carriers for each of the kids. Mr. Greenhab said I should make him a water bottle vest, sort of like an ammo vest, so he could carry them all. Somehow I don't see him following through on his offer.

Now summer is rapidly approaching - or so they say - and I haven't even thought about making them yet. Okay, I have thought, "Don't I need to know how to use pi to figure out the radius or circumference or how big the circle thingie on the bottom of the sling should be? Eh, I'll just carry the darn bottles myself. That sounds like too much work."

But, after my fabric scrap basket finally exploded this weekend with ripped pants and jeans, I decided to try a lazy woman's water bottle carrier just to see how it would work. The good news? It works! The bad news? I still don't know how to use pi.

Here's a quick how-to...

Take your poor abused jeans or pants and lay your water bottle on top to determine how long you need your sling to be. The pant leg opening will be the top of your sling. Add 2.5 inches to the desired length and cut.

Turn inside out, pin the rough cut opening and sew across the top with a half inch seam allowance.

Square off the corners...

...and measure two inches up from the point. Mark a line across.

After sewing across your line, cut the points off.

Turn right side out and you have a bag with a squared-off bottom!

Now you need to attach your strap. I made a strap from scraps of race car fabric.  You can make your own or just buy something at the fabric store. Measure where you want it to fall on you or your little one, then add about two inches in length to attach it to the bag on either side. I attached mine to the outside of the bag because the ends of my straps were finished. You can attach it to the inside or outside.

I also cut out a little race car from the same fabric and attached it to the front using heat 'n bond.

This project was super easy, quick, and there was no fiddling with a compass to make a round bottom.



Pardon the dirt, I dragged him in from the sandbox to model for me. This will be perfect for carrying a water bottle and a granola bar around Disneyland in a few months! (YAY!)