This post is brought to you by The Ribbon Retreat. All opinions are 100% mine.
 
My daughter brings her babies everywhere. And you guess it! That means half the time, I’M stuck carrying the doll around. I needed a quick and simple solution to this problem, but I couldn’t find a baby doll carrier ANY WHERE! I decided I could probably figure something out on my own with a bit of fabric and my sewing machine, and I was right! So if you’re in the same situation I was, follow along with my Baby Doll Carrier Tutorial below.
This is a fairly quick project, so if you are planning on making this during nap time, then make sure you grab out a baby doll from your little ones bedroom beforehand!  

Materials Needed:
2 contrasting fabrics (fat quarters work perfectly!)
Moon Stitched Ribbon (or any wide ribbon)
Velcro
Buckles
Quilters Batting
Thread
The measurements I give made a carrier that fits both my 2.5 year old and my 4.5 year old.
To fit someone bigger, just add a little more length to the straps.
 
Directions:
Step 1 – Cutting Fabric: 
Cut out 2 panels of your main fabric, 11″W X 10″L.
Cut out 1 panel of your quilters batting, 11″W x 10″L.
Cut out 2 panels of your contrasting fabric for your belly band, 14″W x 6″L.
Cut out 2 panels for the crotch strap, 3″W x 6.5″L.
Cut out 2 panels for the shoulder straps, 2.5″W x 9″L.
(These can be cut on the fold so that you only make two cuts, see picture below).
Cut 2 strips of ribbon 12″L and 2 strips of ribbon 18″L.
2:  Working with the crotch strap, put right sides together.  Sew around two sides, leaving the top open for turning.  Turn right side out and iron flat.
3:  Find the center of your belly band (right side up).  
 4. Place your crotch strap with the unsewn edge down and hanging over the bottom of the belly band by about 1/4″. Pin in place.  
5. Place your 2nd belly panel right side down, over the top, sandwiching the crotch piece in place.  Pin in place.  
6. Sew the top seam and the bottom seam.  No need to sew the sides.  Flip right side out and iron flat.

7. Sew along the bottom of one of your shoulder straps and up the side.  Do the same for the second piece.  Turn right side out and iron flat.  
8.  Cut your pieces of velcro to fit the width of your strap.  Sew the hook portions of the velcro onto the bottom of your straps.
7.  Lay your quilters batting flat.  Place one of your main fabric panels on top of the batting, right side up.
Find the center along the bottom seam.  Match up the crotch strap with the center mark, overhanging the fabric by about 1/4″.  Pin crotch strap in place.
8. Your belly strap should hang over the side edge by about .5″ on either side. Pin in place.  Also note in the picture that the crotch strap has a little give, it isn’t pulled tight.

9. Along the top of your main fabric, measure 1.5″ and place one shoulder strap (velcro face down) and then one 12″ ribbon.  (not shown in image – yes, I got all the way to having this sewn together and realized my mistake and had to rip out the top seam! The second picture above shows me placing the shoulder strap and then the ribbon on top of that.  Grrr…).  Center the ribbon over the shoulder strap piece.  Pin in place.  Do the same for the other side.
10.  Along the bottom of your fabric, measure 1.5″ from the sides and pin ribbon in place. See photo above.
11.  Pin your extra ribbon into the middle so that it doesn’t accidentally get sewn into the seam.
12.  Place your 2nd main fabric panel right side down and sandwich everything in.  Pin in place.
13.  Starting at the edge of the right shoulder strap sew around the edges of the piece until you get to the end of the other shoulder strap.  This will leave you with approximately a 4″ gap for turning.  
14.  Clip corners and remove all pins and turn. Remove all pins.
15.  Top stitch across the top to close your turning hole.  I usually start under the shoulder strap and go across to the other shoulder strap, though you are welcome to top stitch the whole thing.
16.  At this point you can grab your little ones favorite baby doll and place her inside the carrier and figure out where you want the straps to lay.  Place your soft portion of the velcro pieces where you want them and pin in place.  Sew your velcro pieces onto the belly band piece only.
18.  Using a lighter or a match (or Fray Check) melt the edges of your ribbon so that they don’t fray.
19.  Insert one of your top ribbons into your buckle and then secure in place (sew across). 
Do the same for the second top ribbon.
20.  Insert buckle onto your bottom ribbons.  Flip over the edge by about 1/2″ and sew across. 
This will prevent the buckle from sliding off.   
21.  Criss-cross straps and buckle.  You’re DONE!
 This carrier is so versatile!  Take it anywhere for hands-free fun!  My daughter has taken it on our vacations so she can still bring her baby along.  And as you can see, it also can be worn in front:
I would love to see your creations, so please share if you make one!
 
 This post originally appeared on The Ribbon Retreat Blog.