Slings worth swooning over

I was making the rounds on the Internet one day last week, when I stumbled upon Bloom Spokane’s blog post about local sling maker Sarita Morgan .

Did you hear the big thump when my jaw hit the floor?

Talk about stunning! Who knew a sling could be so gorgeous.

Slings have grown in popularity over the last decade as more parents have opted to “wear” their babies instead of pushing them in strollers or resting them in bouncy seats as they go about their daily lives. In a nutshell, babies who are worn fuss less and since they’re not busy crying and feeling frantic, their little brains have time to think and organize and grow in a healthy way, according to Dr. William Sears, a leading advocate of attachment parenting .

(I wore my babies a lot and am a fan of attachment parenting, but I can’t help giggling right now thinking of the hilarious stroller scene from the movie Away We Go with Maggie Gyllenhaal. Anyone with me?)

Back to Sarita.

She began sewing after her son was born in 2002. Sarita had always been artistically inclined, but “never found what I was good at.”

As she experimented more with fabric, she began piecing together intricate works of art.

“I never realized you could do that with sewing,” Sarita says. “I just started sewing and wanted unique things.”

Part of what she loves about the process is “the art of perfection” she can achieve through careful and precise applique.

Sarita’s father is a sculptor. His work is very realistic, anatomically correct and historically accurate, she says. Sarita thinks she might have inherited her respect for precision from him.

Her works of fabric art made their way onto slings, and now parents everywhere (but especially in Spokane and Flagstaff, Ariz., where she lived previously) wear her slings as they wear their babies and toddlers. Her designs have included angel wings, birds, planet earth, giraffes, mountains, flowers and more. Visit Sarita’s Web site to see some of her work , including her fabric wall hangings (in case your babies are too big to wear anymore).

Sarita sews the slings mostly at night after her two children (ages 3 and 8) have gone to bed. The slings are sold at aNeMoNe Handmade Paper Flowers in River Park Square, in downtown Spokane.