# Can I transform a sari into a carrier of some kind?



## Thalia (Apr 9, 2003)

I have a beautiful silk sari with a complex gold border that my grandmother bought in India and gave to me when I was 12. It is the most beautiful sky blue color, but has fade marks because I used it as a window scarf in college.







:

I've worn it as a sari a few times, but the opportunities for doing this are fairly rare these days, and I'd love to find a way to use this beautiful fabric more often. The workmanship is gorgeous. I bought a few saris myself when I was in India for a few days, but didn't have the resources to find or buy anything as lovely as this one at that time. The fabric is a pretty tight weave/high thread count, not gauzy at all. Very little stretch.

How can I use this as a carrier? Would it work as just a plain old wrap (if cut to size?). Could I make it into a ring sling with some sling-strength rings? The fabric seems kind of slippery for that. Should I pad it in any way?

Any suggestions welcome!


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## katie9143 (Oct 3, 2006)

i would think you should be able to use it as a maya at the very least. im sure others will have other ideas though.


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## UmmIbrahim (Feb 16, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *katie9143* 
i would think you should be able to use it as a maya at the very least. im sure others will have other ideas though.

Do you mean have it transformed into a ring sling becos a "maya" is short for "maya wrap rs" which is a brand name.

yes it might work for a ring sling dept on texture and thickness.
Might work even as a wrap, but again, depends on texture and thickness.


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## Quirky (Jun 18, 2002)

Silk makes an excellent ring sling! Depending on how much fabric you have, you may be able to do more than one thing with it. What are the dimensions?


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## BarefootScientist (Jul 24, 2007)

Don't Indian women use their saris directly to carry their babies, or am I mistaken on that? Because it would be nice if you could try to use it as a carrier without altering it in any way. Probably something like a wrap.

It would probably make a really pretty ring sling too though.

Sorry I'm no help.


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## marie1080 (Aug 5, 2006)

Depending on how thick it is, you could make a two layer ring sling. Or if you want to cut it, it could be the panel on a MT.

Sounds beautiful!


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## Hobie (Aug 15, 2007)

Just be sure the fabric is sound first. Sun and age can damage fabric. You could use it for a decoraive front panel on a MT (w/ sturdy canvas behind it).


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## Smokering (Sep 5, 2007)

Mm, I'm interested in this too. It's impossible to buy wraps in my town--they only sell a very limited collection of the really structured carriers like the Ergo--but there's a store which has gorgeous panels of fabric. I don't think they're saris, some of them are scarves and some of them are thick shawls, and some of them I have no idea. But they have the most luscious colours. I was wondering if they'd be sturdy enough for a smallish baby, at least.


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## Individuation (Jul 24, 2006)

If I'm not mistaken, there's a whole discussion about this on the babywearer forums. Would it be breaking the UA to direct people there? I'm never sure how that works.

Short answer--yes. You could totally make a wrap out of a sari.


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## UmmIbrahim (Feb 16, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *BarefootScientist* 
Don't Indian women use their saris directly to carry their babies, or am I mistaken on that? Because it would be nice if you could try to use it as a carrier without altering it in any way. Probably something like a wrap.

It would probably make a really pretty ring sling too though.

Sorry I'm no help.









Hate to be a downer...but not usually.
Maybe in very rural areas the women would use a piece of cloth (SPOC) as a carrier but generally...no. Maybe pre-colonialism they did. *hmmm*

Its kinda like Iran, only very very rural women (and usually elderly at that!) still use their chadors to carry a baby in, its kinda *duh* obvious to do so, but the vast majority of women would rather carry a child in arms than use their chador to help carry their child. (its considered uncool and old fashioned to do otherwise!)


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## maymorales (Dec 9, 2006)

I've seen my friend's mom do it w/her sari. It's sort of like the way the Mexican women do it with a Rebozo. They don't tie it, just wrap it around the baby in opposing directions. I'm sure TBW traditional babywearing forum would have something.


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## maymorales (Dec 9, 2006)

I've seen my friend's mom do it w/her sari. It's sort of like the way the Mexican women do it with a Rebozo. They don't tie it, just wrap it around the baby in opposing directions. I'm sure TBW traditional babywearing forum would have something. but note: i've only seen it done w/very very young babies.
sorry, what in the world is wrong w/my computer? double post.


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## e.naomisandoval (Aug 30, 2005)

I hope I am remembering this correctly. Some I read on mamatoto like 3+ years ago and some I got from private conversations with Tracy (creator of that site). No, it doesn't seem that Indian women use saris for babywearing. But yes, you definitely can use them for babywearing. I bought both silk and cotton saris on sarisafari.com. Beautiful. The cotton ones can be quite inexpensive and can be whisper thin - great in hot weather but some don't like thin wraps. I do. They require a lot lot of washing as they have crazy starch. I had to wash them a ridiculous number of times. I am pretty sure the cotton ones weren't hemmed. The silk was lovely. I would never attempt a back carry in silk; too slippery. But it felt super elegant for a cool evening out and had the added bonus of being a gorgeous dressy wrap when I wasn't wearing the baby (when my BIL took my girl around to use her as a chick magnet - there is something vaguely disturbing about that.)


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## maymorales (Dec 9, 2006)

i must have seen exception of the case, then. my friend's mom had a baby when we were in high school. there were 9 siblings. the baby was the 10th one. maybe she did something different with this new baby.


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## e.naomisandoval (Aug 30, 2005)

I'd love to be corrected!







They just are so lovely for babywearing!


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## maymorales (Dec 9, 2006)

there's an idea! someone should make rs that look like saris!
my own dh takes our ds as a 'chick magnet' that's probably disturbing on a whole different level!


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## Thalia (Apr 9, 2003)

Thanks so much for all the replies! I don't know the exact length of the sari , but like your typical sari it is quite quite long. I could probably get two ring slings out of it. Or the end panel could be made into at least two padded carrier backs.

Good point about the fading. I think that it is just the color that has faded, though. The silk is still quite strong. It just looks a bit tie-dyed. I so wish I had kept it in a dark closet all these years: the original blue was so beautiful.

I'm going to post pics shortly.


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## SleeplessMommy (Jul 16, 2005)

The sari should be about 7 yards, 9 if a wedding sari. Width is 45" (plus?)

You could double it and make a ring sling, I believe.


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