This tutorial shows how to make a woven pouch for a shepherd sling like it is used e.g. in Israel and
the middle east. It´s called #1, because it`s about the basic method with a simple and one coloured weaving.
Other tutorials which show more advanced methods and more complicated weaving patterns will follow.

On the picture below a finished example is seen.

A drawn mini tutorial was posted by me in the past and can be found here:
http://slinging.org/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1172017416/3150 ; reply #3155-3157

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You need about 8-9m of cordage for the pouch, a knife or scissors, a weaving needle (every big needle without a sharp tip is o.k.), an additional piece of cord (~40cm), some glue and a flat piece of hard paper, plastic, wood or something similar. I took here the loom that I use for making the Tut-slings, that is nothing else than a piece of plastic with many cut-outs.

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If your "loom" has the length of the future pouch, then take the cord and make 4 complete turns around the "loom", otherwise make this step free hand. Make a knot.

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Remove the cordage, so that it isn`t bent around anymore and lay it on the upper side of the "loom".

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Use an additional piece of cord to fix the cordage on the "loom" like shown. Now you have 8 warp cords, that should not be under too much tension but also not too loose.

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Now you can start weaving. Here I wove from left to right down-up-down-up...
As you can see, the weaving begins in the middle height of the warp cords.
Pull the weaving strand through, until both (left and right) ends of it have the same length.
Now you will continue with the right end (the one with the needle) weaving upwards of the first row.

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Here 4 rows are woven. Don`t weave too tight, but make sure every row is as wide as you want your pouch.
This is crucial, even if the weft seems very loose and weak to you. The tightness will come later.

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Pusch the rows together, using the tip of the needle or your finger.

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Continue weaving until you made 13-14 rows. Push them now together tighter than you did before.
You may hold one or two warps above the rows and push the respective part of weaving to the bottom it moves downwards and tightens. Repeat this for every warp until your weaving is dense and regular.
Be careful that you don`t push the rows to hard, otherwise you could pull the warps through too much.

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Now change the needle to the other end of your weaving cord and start weaving downwards.

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Weave the same amount of rows as you did before.

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Change the needle again to the upper weaving cord and start weaving over two warps.

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For the first 4-5 rows weave every row tighter than the row before to slowly reduce the width of the pouch.

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After having reached the desired width of this part of the pouch continue weaving until the weft reaches a length that is equal or longer than the pouch center.

Tighten the weaving as described before by pushing the rows to the center while pulling or holding the warps.
Here you`ll note that the center begins to shape to a slightly cupped form.

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Repeat the weaving over two warps on the other side until the pouch becomes symmetrical.

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Now continue again with the upper part and start weaving over 4 warps together, reducing the width step by step over 6 rows until you have a very tight weft.

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After having done the same with the bottom part of the pouch you can detach it from the "loom".

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Before you continue tighten the wefts for a last time by putting a finger in one of the two loops and pushing the weft towards the center. Be careful and don`t pull too hard, otherwise you`ll lose the other loop as it will be pulled to the weft.

Now we start whipping. There are two methods for this. One is shown here in the loop with the knot.
Untwist the remained weaving cord. With the jute cord I used here I had luck that the untwisting resulted in a pair number of strands.

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Take a part of the strands and whip them around the loop tightly.

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When your whipping cord is nearly finished, take the other part of the untwisted cord and start whipping from the other end of the loop in a direction that the whipping cords can be knotted together when they meet.

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You can see it on this picture where the pouch is shown from the back side.

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The other whipping method is shown here for the other loop. Don`t untwist the remained weaving cord, but whip it completely around the loop. Make a tight whipping.

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After having whipped the loop, untwist the cord.

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(Another change of background)

Take one part of the strands and sew them through the loop-near woven rows.

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At the end the strands should come out at the backside of the pouch ...

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... where you knot them together with the other strands you got from untwisting the whipping cord.

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Add a drop of glue on each knot. After the glue is totally hardened, you can trim the remained ends.

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Your pouch is ready to get some cords attached.

This kind of pouch is very versatile. It holds many sizes of ammo very securely but has a very good release, due to the reduced width after the center and the cup shape that is not too deep.

When using natural fibers you can wet the pouch in cold water. After complete drying it`ll become very soft and flexible.

Have fun with sling making and slinging.
I hope I´ll post the other tutorial(s) soon.

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Very good, thank you! 8-)

Thanks, ive always wanted to know how to make these,il give it a try.

Thanks man, You make it look easy

Awesome!  Great Tutorial!

Geez, I think I might be getting a case of SAD, because now I want to make another sling, and that is it right there! Great tutorial. Thanks mate.


Mick

SAD?

...Sling Addiction Disorder?

Sling Acquisition Disorder.  :)


Mick

Yes, I know, I also suffer from SAD.

Thanks a lot for the compliments. I´m already working on tutorial #2 and #3.

I also suffer from a slinging addiction...
I have a TON of slings.
Plus I sling every day.

Nice tutorial.. I might make one. I might try to make one without a loom.

The first step is admitting you have a problem;)
Hi, my name is Tomas and I'm addicted to slings.

Tomas wrote on Apr 17^th, 2013 at 7:46am:

The first step is admitting you have a problem;) Hi, my name is Tomas and I'm addicted to slings.

Hi Tomas.

My name is Mick and I don't see the problem!  ;D


Mick

So,i'm in the process of making this sling.Only thing is,i'm using a loom.If i run out of string while weaving,what could i do?

Here is my paracord version. The tighter you pull the area where the weave pattern changes, you will get more cup in the pouch! I love it!

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Loom for woven pouch made from a picture frame

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Completed sling, prior to removing it from loom

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My latest effort.  These slings seem to suit me.  Weaving a sling is a far better way to relax after work than watching TV.

Used one yesterday to play sling golf with a tennis ball at a disc golf course. Fun!

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Help my sling was born deformed

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Words can’t express how...interesting and creative that is.

I am having problems keeping the sling wide without making a see thru lattice input would be nice

Looks like you need more weft cords. If you only have say 4-5 weft corda your pouch is only going to be so big. Say you want a pouch twice as thick as that, add twice as many weft cords. Thats what I would do.