Gathering and Sewing help

[whycantibeajedi.livejournal.com]

Hi ladies and gents, long time lurker, occasional poster here.

I really need help with a baby sling I'm sewing. It's the Simplicity pattern 3712, and the instructions aren't as clear as I'd like them to be. It has me gathering nearly 20 inches of fabric into less than 7. It's so thick! I've already broken a denim needle trying to go through it. Pictures after the cut...



So here we go, here are two pictures of the shoulder pad and the clasp tab:




and here are pictures of the gathered ends.





And here's one last picture of the general sling:



If anyone can help me, I'd greatly appreciate it.

And here's a photo of my first ever bleach stencil, I'm so proud of it:



and here's the lucky fella: