DIY Children's Sling Bookshelf

I'm going to show you how to create a child's sling-style, wall mounted bookshelf.  These normally can run anywhere from $30-$100, depending on the style and quality.  You can make one of these yourself for only a few dollars, especially if you have the scrap fabric on hand.  For reference, home improvement stores like Lowes and Home Depot sell the mounts and curtain rods cheaper than most other places.  However, I really like some of the Walmart versions, so those are the ones I linked to below.

Things you'll need:

Sewing machine (not necessary, but quite helpful)
Fabric & thread
Double cafe rod mount
2 cafe curtain rods

Simplified How To:

1. Hang your rod mounts on the wall; be sure to measure accurately so the bookshelf will hang straight.
2. Place rods into mounts and measure the width (this will be the width of your fabric, and ultimately, your bookshelf).  Measure from the inside of the left mount to the inside of the right mount.
3. Sew your rectangle of fabric.  The width of the fabric should match the width of the mounts (as determined in Step 2 above).  The length should be long enough to wrap around the bottoms of books, creating a sling.  I have found that 14 inches is a good length (but allow a few more inches to account for the loops that you will have to sew at the ends).
4. Sew the loops at the ends of your rectangle of fabric.
5. "Thread" fabric onto cafe rods and place books in the sling.

Cross-Section Example:

I know this drawing is very crude, but I hope you'll still get the general idea.  ;)

For Emmy's bookshelf (pictured below), I used decorative mounts that were actually a little pricier.  I wanted triple cafe mounts (in case I wanted to add an extra sling later).  The triple cafe rod mounts can be purchased here.  The rod mounts only come in black, so if you want a different color, you'll have to paint them like I did.  Because her shelf displays her Serendipity book collection (which consists of over 50 books - and growing!) we couldn't use standard cafe rods.  With so many books, the sling was too heavy and the rods began to bow.  Needless to say, I had to have steel rods cut to length and then rounded off on the ends (to prevent any injury).   I want to add decorations to the ends of the rods, but I haven't found any that I really like yet.