Much of the credit for this design goes to my sewing contractors. They are a really nice couple who worked for Burley, the bike trailer company, when they were still a cooperative. They decided to leave and open their own shop in Springfield, OR where they sew for companies as large as Boeing Aircraft and as small as, well, MBD. Their expertise and fancy equipment are making this an incredible product. (And yes, in another few months I will be offering custom panels for these and the tie carriers on a regular basis.)
This carrier is a little lighter than the tie carrier. Some design mistakes I made in the tie models have been corrected, mostly internal stuff. Not knowing any better, I did things to add strength and stability that were better served in other ways. We’ve contoured the shoulder straps and added an adjustable sternum strap. In order to preserve the padding in the leg area as well as the “lexi-twist suspension,” the shoulder straps attach under the rump at the center of the hip strap. They’re actually firmly bartacked to the webbing which runs through the hip belt. The whole back piece is padded with a very light batting, it is lighter and softer than the older tie models. We have a new, less slippery webbing too.
This is the production sample. It still needs a bit of tweaking, but we plan to have the first run ready for the Baby Expo at the end of the month. We need to bring the shoulder straps closer together where they attach to the hip belt, for one thing, and figure out exactly how long the webbing needs to be. It goes on for miles in these pictures because we left it extra long. If you happen to be near Eugene, OR with your baby in the next couple of days I could use some fitting assistance…