Thursday 16 May 2013

Tutorial: Knotless Double Hammock

Tutorial: Knotless Double Hammock
Wrap Used: Natibaby Spiderweb Dew, size 5
Level of difficulty: Moderate


1.  Get your child on your back in your preferred way.  You need the wrap over your child's back, with one tail a lot longer than the other.  For this carry, I usually aim to have the wrap so that my son's neck is half way between the middle marker and the end of the wrap. 




2.  Hold both top rails over your shoulders and pull them tight so that you secure your child into place.  Pin the rails under your chin or in your teeth, so that your child is held in place securely enough for you to remove your hands.



3.  With the rails tight under your chin/in your teeth, put your hands underneath your child's knees and take hold of the botton rail.  Pull downwards so that the fabric is pulled taught over your child's back.



4.  With the bottom rail securely in your hands, bring the fabric upwards between you and your child to create a good, deep seat.



5. Now that you have created a seat, remove the top rails from under your chin, and bring the shorter tail completely over your shoulder (the shorter tail is over my left shoulder in this picture).  Secure the shorter tail under your chin (or between your knees if it reaches).  This leaves both your hands free to work with the longer tail.



6. Take the longer tail straight across your body, keep the fabric tight and secure, with no slack.



7.  Pass the fabric over the back of your child and up towards your opposite shoulder.  I find this the most difficult stage of this carry,  as you need to keep the tension, but also get the fabric as high as possible.  Bring the tail up and over your shoulder.



8.  Take some time to adjust this pass and make sure you have taken out all the slack.  Ensure the pass which went across your chest is also tight, and work and slack through.  If you take the time at this stage to carefully tighten it all, it makes it a lot easier in the next stages.



9. Whilst tightening, tuck some of the botton rail under your child's bottom, from one knee pit to the other, to reinforce the seat.



10.  You should now have both tails over your shoulders.  Make sure you have tightened each tail securely, so that there is no loose fabric over your child's back.



11.  Secure the shorter tail under your chin, and pass the longer tail backwards towards your child's knee.



12.  Pass the wrap into your other hand, keeping the tension.  Pass the tail towards your child's other knee...



13....so that the wrap goes completely under your child, securing the seat into place.



14.  Bring that tail up towards your armpit.  You should now have both tails at the same shoulder, one coming from above it, and the other from underneath.



15.  This is now the 'knotless' part.  Bring the tail from underneath your arm over the top of the other tail.


16.  Bring that same tail round and through to create a single knot.


17.  Tighten it securely.


18.  Now drop the tail you have been working with (the one that came from underneath your arm), and take the other tail (the one that was over your shoulder) and feed it across your body....


19...and underneath the shoulder strap on the opposite side.


20.  Bring that tail down and under and chest strap and pull down to tighten.  The chest strap is great if you find, like me, that shoulder straps often fall of the edge of your shoulders.


21.  Now just spread the shoulders to make them comfortable for you.


22.  You're finished.  On this picture I can see that I have a bit of slack in my fabric, so would go back and tighten it through again.  Your child should feel very secure and tight against your back, with a lot of the weight being carried across your chest and not just on your shoulders.




Have fun!

Let me know if you have any questions by adding a comment here on my blog.  This is the first picture tutorial I have ever done, so thank you for looking!  Let me know if there are any carries you would like me to do a tutorial for in the future. 

4 comments:

  1. Dear Samantha!
    Thank you so much for showing how to get a good seat. It was my weak spot during the last few weeks of practising the ruck. Now the seats I create are wonderfully deep, and I don't have to worry about them disappearing again! And I suddenly wrap my little one more often!
    Cheers,
    Nadine

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    1. Hi Nadine, Thats great! I'm so happy that my tutorial helped you! I remember when I first saw this technique for getting a good seat - I felt exactly the same as you! Thank you so much for your comment :D

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  2. Hello Samantha,
    I love your blog, it is beautifully done, and the pictures are so gorgeous. Your son, yourself and the wraps you use are a marvel to gaze at. I have spent hours already reading and browsing trough everything. I wrap a lot using the ruck and I use the same technique as the one you describe to secure the seat, it works amazingly well. My son is growing and putting on weight so I am trying now double hammocks on the back - I am slowingly but surely falling in love with them because they offer a lot of comfort for long periods of babywearing. I will most definitely try the wrap you show here (knotless double hammock) but also the rebozo one which seems most interesting to me. The tutorials are very finely done.
    Thank you also for making me discover wonderful wrap companies such as Bebe Sachi - I would now love to own a wrap of theirs.
    I wish you the best in your new venture and please continue your precious work on your blog as it allows me to benefit from it (living in Paris nd not in the UK) ;)

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    Replies
    1. Thank you SO much for your kind words! It means such a lot to me that you are enjoying reading my blog. I've got lots more reviews and tutorials planned - its just a lot more difficult to get nice photographs in the winter, as the weather has been awful recently. However, I will be adding more to my blog as soon as I can. :D x

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