Colimacon et cie Ring sling - Review and giveaway

Link to giveaway: http://tinyurl.com/m9qkoq5

Thanks to Colimacon et Cie I get to give away one of their snuggly all-cotton ring sling - having tried this, I can tell you it/s soft enough for your newborn and sturdy enough for your toddler.  

This was floppy right out of the bag and I can tell that will a bit of wash and wear it's going to become the softest and sleepiest blanky-feeling carrier. 

The gathered shoulder is easily adjustable for narrow-shouldered wearers - just flip the outside edge up and over to cap comfortably - and still great for burly dads wanting to bond with their little one. 

Review- Pavo Gotham

Gotham is a striking design and Brick's high-contrast colorway makes this the perfect wrap to flip and wear right OR wrong side out.  

Out of the bag Gotham was quite stiff and not at all malleable, which scared me a little. However, after a wash the fibres tightened and relaxed all at once - this felt very textured and bumpy, but a few twists and a brief hammocking later it's a cushy cotton with a nice amount of grip and texture. Getting the second pass to spread well is a little challenging, but once it's there it locks in beautifully. 

With a 27lb/12kg toddler this all-cotton is cushy and supportive. It doesn't dig at all and it's fluffed up a little more with subsequent washings. I would choose a smoother-textured wrap for a very new baby, but broken-in, Gotham doesn't disappoint. 

(Just briefly... I love the very Australian Aboriginal feel of this wrap. It's like wearing a piece of art.)

Pretty green for a giveaway!

Pretty green pockets is an Aussie WAHM who specializes in Babywearing bags. She incorporates wrap scraps and repurposed fabrics to create sturdy, capacious bags that are totally individual. Want one? Enter here: 

 http://tinyurl.com/m9qkoq5

Review and GIVEAWAY - Pavo Espalier

Espalier is geometric perfection. 

Yet again Pavo has created an all-cotton that doesn't sag, only stretches and then - stops. In a size six, this wrap rocks my socks. After the recommended cool wash, it came up lightly textured thanks to the large-scale pattern. I nearly broke my no-ironing rule. Then I shrugged, twisted it a couple times and - BAM - my overtired toddler snuggled her 12 kilos/27lbs into me for a bit over two hours of shopping, errands, and walking. 

In a DH this rocks my socks. Measuring in at 72 cms wide, there's plenty of wrap to seat the tallest wrappee, but not a lot of bulk on the shoulders or in a bunched pass. After one wash it was cushy, with a forgiving bandage-like stretch similar to Pavo Penumbra, and I think it will break into a very soft and pliable wrap. I have yet to get the exact g/sm, but it punches seriously above its weight.

Want it? Check my facebook page www.facebook.com/keepcalmandcarrythem to enter now :)

Review -Inda Jani Fular Binni Rosa

This wrap is (a) seriously pink; (b) marshmallowy; and (c) cushy even with a big kid.

I washed this once and after drying had a fluffy marshmallow of a wrap that would double as a pillow once folded. It's a very airy diamond weave, 74cms wide and snuggly. These are handwoven in Mexico and are damn cheap for the way they wrap.

As you can see, I put Audrey (all 11lgs of her) up in a double hammock with candy cane chest belt, and the hike began. 

Here we are leaving... 

And here we are an hour and a half later. 

What you notice as you struggle to make the second pass is the Velcro-like nature of these diamonds. I'm not sure this is a wrap a beginner would love to use in multiple-layer carries (although a shortie would be amazing), but this is really unbudgeable, with a lovely bounce and "stretch" along the diagonal.

My husband (aka master of FWCC) decided this is the "cushiony" wrap. So much so that I caught him sleeping with it as a pillow... Be warned ;)

Want to WIN it? Make sure you get your entries in here: http://tinyurl.com/m9qkoq5

Review - Oonlamoon Eri Silk wrap

For the last few days I've had the pleasure of hosting Oonlamoon's Eri silk wrap.


What is Eri silk? I wondered too... here's the answer: unlike mulberry silkworms, eri silkworms create their cocoons from short, discontinuous fibres; because this silk can't be reeled, it's spun into yarn, giving it the texture of a cotton/wool blend rather than the slipperiness we usually know as silk. However, the resulting thread has the same shine and softness - an attractive combination for babywearers!


What does this mean for the resulting wrap? Well, it's floppy, springy and cushy with the most divine watery-smooth drape. It feels fluffy in hand but wraps quite sleekly and is very easy to tension strand by strand. It's incredible how differently it wraps to cotton. It has a gentle grip which holds a second pass nicely, (the tester I've had here is a size 4) but doesn't catch enough to make it a challenging wrap.

Wrapping a 11kg/24lb toddler I couldn't quite believe this was all-silk. It would be amazingly cuddly for a newborn.
 It's very supportive and bounces forgivingly. The gently tapered ends are nice for a less bulky knot and tie-off. I did have to retighten my top rail when rucking but I prefer having a little more give in the selvedge to having a hemmed selvedge, so that's fine. The weave is very consistent and I couldn't spot any imperfections or skipped threads. All of Oonlamoon's wraps owe their earthy tones to natural dyes so you don't have to worry about your baby sucking the rails!


I feel like this has all the benefits of wool - bounce, cush, that lovely tactile feeling - without any of the drawbacks. It's easy to wash and doesn't need a lot of special care for drying, and the weave is quite fine and difficult to catch or snag. This being a travelling tester, it's been through a few homes now and is still perfect.