This is my build-along for a simple sling with a woven pouch, as shown below:



Mine is Para-cord, and 60 cm (2 ft) long from mid-pouch to the release knot.  The pouch is 15 cm (6 in.) long, and the split in it is 9 cm (3.5 in.)

Materials and Tools

Cord -   About 4 meters (13 feet).  This length is approximate, it can vary depending on your cord and how tightly you weave it.  I used para-cord for this tutorial.  Para-cord does wear slightly when used with rocks, so if that is a concern, some other cord of similar thickness would be fine, and resist fraying better.

Sharp scissors or knife - to cut the cord.  You will need to trim the cord very close in some spots.

Pen - to mark the cords.

Flame source - to melt the ends of the cord, and prevent fraying.


Instructions

First cut your cord.  You will need four pieces: two  will be about 15 cm (6 inches) long, and two will be about 2 m  (6 1/2 feet) long.  Melt all the ends into large globs of plastic.

Tie a finger loop on the end of one of the long pieces, and a release knot on the end of the other.

Mark 2 feet from the knot/loop on each cord with a pen or twist ties or something, and 6 inches later, make another mark.  These are the beginning and end of the pouch.  Align the two cords at the marks with their knots facing different directions.



Take one of the long “tail” ends, and wrap it around the other cord, at the mark, as shown



Continue the wrapping, weaving the long tail end (I'll call the portion of the tail end that's doing the wrapping the weft) around and around the other two cords, which should remain straight (I'll call these the warp) until there are 3 wraps on each side, as shown.  You will be doing a lot of weaving like this, it is important to keep an even tightness for every wrap, or the sling will be slightly uneven and lumpy looking.



Here’s where the two short pieces come in:  lay them on top of the sling thus far as shown.  They should be between the two cords that make up the warp, so that one of the short straight pieces and one warp cord will be partnered up on each side, acting as a single warp cord.



Continue to wrap the weft around, pairing up the short and long pieces as stated above.



Again, stop after three wraps on each side have been done since the short cords were introduced.  Around here I like to tug on the loose ends of each of the short cords to get them close to flush where they are first joined in to the pouch.  You can see I waited a while before I remembered to do this.



Here’s where we start the pouch, and this is where I always mess up: On the last wrap (so there will be three wraps on each side since the short cords were introduced), instead of bringing it past two cords and then bringing it up (between the two sets of two cords) as I accidentally did in the picture above, bring it past the first three cords, and then bring it up.  The picture should make this clearer.



Continue weaving  around the long and short cord on that side, so that each one serves as an independent warp.  Continue this for about 9 cm (3.5 in.)



Now, just repeat the process, but with the other tail.






It is sort of hard to get all the cords correctly positioned, one side of the pouch may be longer than the other, or it may be deformed/pursed, so you might need to adjust it by tightening / pulling some of the warp cords. Needle nose pliers are a big help.



Trim and melt all the danglies.  You can see in this picture, how the warp cords aren't properly tightened, as described in the step above.  This is causing the pouch to purse funny.  I had to go and tighten it again.



And here it is, completed:





One thing I learned is that large globs of molten plastic on the ends of the cords are key, it will prevent them from pulling through, and save you a lot of time.

I was able to make one, including measuring, cutting, adjusting, trimming, and melting, in less than 45 minutes.  It’s easier than it looks, although it can be a little tricky in some parts.

Criticisms questions and comments are always welcome.  If you notice any mistakes / misused terms, or anyone has suggestions to make my tutorial better, clearer, or more consistent, please post them, and I will go back and edit it.

Sorry that this is late, stuff came up, as it tends to do.

Nice tutorial! I'm going to have to try it out when/if I can get my hands on some paracord...

very nice!

Thanks, Cliff.

That looks... Way Cool.  I don't have any paracord handy, but I do have plenty of nylon 505 cord, which is almost the same thing.  And members of my tribe have most certainly mastered the 'melting things into large gobs of plastic' part of the operation.  I'll have to give this one a go!  Thanks for posting it!

I couldn't figure out how to attach two images to a single post, so here's a closeup of the pouch. It curved a whole lot more than the one in the instructions, but I think that it was mainly because I pulled it so tight. I like it better curved anyway, so I didn't bother to try to change it. The pouch was much stiffer than I expected (but that's probably also because I pulled it so tight). Overall it's a wonderful sling. I've only slung one tennis ball with it so far, but I already love it.

nice.

Cliff wrote on Dec 2^nd, 2007 at 5:55pm:

I think I see the difference, but I don't think it would change anything dramatically. I looked at my sling carefully for about a minute to see if I could tell which way I wove it at that point, and I'm not entirely sure. The only part that gave me trouble was starting out when my weave was extremely loose and hideous. I almost undid the weave so that I could go back and redo it tighter, but then I got the hang of pulling it tight after weaving.

EDIT: I should probably rephrase that last sentence, because I realized that it doesn't sound the way I meant it to. I wove as tightly as a could, but the string remained "loose" in that it would pass across the perpendicular strings sinusoidally rather than pretty much straight. I tried pulling it tight as a worked, but it didn't really help. When I arrived at the point where the pouch splits I decided I would have to tighten it or restart. I pulled on it as best I could, and the weaving sort of collapsed in a way that made it look the way it should. I don't know how well I explained that, but hopefully it gives you an idea.

Nallekarkki, it looks good, thanks for trying this out.