Handwoven baby wraps are the Crème de la crème of baby wraps. The process of their creation is way more sumptious and time-consuming because every step has to be made manually. The weaver who learned to master the art is involved centimeter for centimeter by guding the shuttle from one side to the other over and over again, changing the yarns, controlling the density, measuring the fabric… The biggest part already takes place before weaving when the warp is being set up thread by thread (and there are many threads!).
How does it wrap? Not so soft yet and way bouncier than my other wraps which comes from the extraordinary weaving technique or because it’s not perfect, as, woven in paedagogic day care. My wishes for the design have been totally fulfilled, I couldn’t have done it better. The colours are stunning! Because the wrap is broader than usual and it’s weight is very high, it’s mostly suitable for toddlers. There are three wraps with wo different sizes.
how does it wrap?: This is real love! It was my first custom and it’s named after my daughter. The colours combinend with the weave make it really extraordinary and special. It’s rather stiff nor too soft, it’s tight and absolutely toddlerworthy. Definitely permastash!
How does it wrap?: I’ve ownend three AndalGOs, let one go and kept the one I loved more, still from the same warp (pink-purple). AndalGOs are soft, rather shin and shiny. I wouldn’t recommend them for a simple Ruck ’cause they tend to slip away. But securely tucked through legpasses, it’s nice to wear. I use to do the Ruck, too, as you can see on the pic 😉
How does it wrap?: Ground solid wrap! I made a mistake and sold “Peony” when I needed money for another one but have been lucky that the buyer couldn’t handle the size and I just had to buy it back. It’s such a beauty. I’m not the green type but the pink grad dyed part is gorgeous and totally unique! Love! “Coral” is more softer, other weave and still gorgeous as all Heartis are 🙂
How does it wrap?: Uppymama – a pioneer. For a long time unreachable! But then I got lucky buying one from a german draw winner and could trade it with a longer one from Singapore. Lucky trade. I didn’t like the split weft but the colour is so mine. Anyway, it’s so soft and thin I couldn’t believe it would wear my toddler without aching – but it did, perfectly, smoothly!
Kirsten Heine “Krokus #1” / (“Tiefsee” in two versions)
Details / how does it wrap? What can I say about Kirsten Heine? I don’t know if she’s an insider tip anymore, I guess rather not ’cause the wait list is closed for months and probably won’t ever open again. “Herzsturm”, “Krokus” and “Tiefsee” are the warps she’s done so far (Tiefsee is still in progress, january 2015).
It’s the work of a real weaving artist. Breathtaking, mindboggling, as if you’re standing in front of a painting and get the impression of getting sucked in. You just can’t look away. The heart weave is gorgeous and it’s unbelievable how different her warps look with another weft. Like day and night. Wrapping quality of the one I owned for a too short time is really satisfying. Thick but soft, very cosy with my toddler. The handmade booklet that came with the wrap, showing pics of the progress and containing samples of the yarn shows Kirstens passion and professionalism.
How does it wrap?: Erika Higgins is a master of soft transitions. If you love the beauty of understatement and a supersnugly wrap, she’s your weaver! “Sprinkles” was my very first semi-custom and I believe also my first handwoven. Therefore it’ll always stay a special wrap. It’s so lovely I often don’t dare to use it. Stupid mama!
How does it wrap?: I followed KHR for a while until I spotted a pic of that wrap on facebook. I was like “OMG I so need this in my life, this wrap is made for me”. So. My. Colours! I’ve been a very lucky girl to type fast enough to score it when it released on a given time on hyenacart. Squeeeee! This is a OOAK and probably will never be FS 😉 Love it! Easy to handle, a little stretchier than others but just perfect for us. No need to complain at all.
How does it wrap?: I just love the colour and twill weaving of this wrap. It just wasn’t as soft as I wanted it to be and too short for me to be honest. Anyway, I wouldn’t be sad if I’d get the chance to get a Lavendula back one day…There’s quite a hype about Pollora today and this is the only one I was able to try so far. I’ve got nothing to rant about it and it’s sure toddlerworthy while rather heavy and strong, thick, too.
How does it wrap?: Oh my goodness! When I saw a pic of what was on the loom at HT, my heart bounced! “Fuberry” isn’t only a collection of my favourite colours (pink, violet in any shades, you know, combinend with white/grey) it was also woven in hearts, which I love, too. I asked desperately, if all pieces are spoken for and the weaver messaged me that there was a 2m-piece available. I didn’t know what to do with a 2m-piece but of course I needed it! 😉
And there it came, instant cush, flatteringly gorgeous, oh wow! I decided to sat on my sewing machine to convert it into a ring sling. It’s a rather thick piece so using it as a sling isn’t the easiest thing to do but I didn’t sold it because of that but because we seldomly use a sling anymore. So sad about that one and only sold because I’ve been given DIBS by the buyer. 😉
How does it wrap?: I’m a lucky girl with two “Tres Marias”, whereas “Cotton Candy” was my very own custom. It’s always very special and the biggest pleasure to work on a custom together with the artist (the weaver 😉 although my part of the work solely consisted in mentioning my fav colours and so. The second design was to my full pleasure, so… 🙂
Customs are highly addictive, at least for me. Can’t get enough of them. 😉 Anyway, I love Paz for doing such lovely designs, each of their own. As far as I know, all of them are plain weave and my wraps are rather thin but supportive, dropped in ready-to-wear (yay!) and cushy.
How does it wrap?: ETLA – one of my first handwovens, one of the first name that came to me when I first heard about handwovens, so, of course, I had to try to get one. It was also the first shortie I got (it’s the one on the left pic). A cold beauty, thin but supportive and already broken in by its previous owner. Sadly, I’ve been a victim of a weaver that scammed a whole lot of mamas and got the chance to buy another ETLA.
Karen Schiltz was the most kind person to offer this to a group of mamas. She weaved one awesome piece that would bound us forever. Because I’m a pink lover I decided to opt for another warp she offered: Black Cherry! It’s way softer and a little bit thicker then my first one and I guess it’s eternal love. Perfect piece! 🙂
How does it wrap?: I already tested Cherry Brownies, Frosted Lemon, Pareo Grade, Kupidon und Frija Grade. I love the colours of the two latest. I loved the others, too but with Pareo I learned that I can’t handle Bourette Silk, the smell wasn’t bearable for me – strange thing though…anyway, LLs are perfect – soft from the beginning, just the right thickness and toddlerworthy, too. You can’t have enough of them I guess. 😉
Mo Dream “Hydrangeas at Dawn” / “Candy Shop”
Weaver: unknown (CH); sold through Brenda Reisinger (Balibu) Weave: div. (here: Hearts) Material: Cotton Density: k.A.
How does it wrap?: Mo Dream stands for Swiss perfection, I am not exagerrating here! The weaving pattern is completely flawless, you wouldn’t tell it’s made by hand! The colours are strong with a slight shine, very elegant. The quality of the yarns is awesome, so are the wrapping qualities. The wrap is dense, medium thickness, perfect with my toddler. Once tied, it stays in place, bombproof!
Can definitely recommend this to everyone. Yes, it’s not cheap, not at all, but it’s worth it if you aren’t a hoarder like me. I had 3 MDs living here, all the same quality, I just had to sale two because you can’t afford 3 Mo Dream if you want to try other wraps, too. At least I can’t. But I might as well sell 2-3 other wraps and buy one MD back ’cause, a wrap so perfect should be available in different sizes or colors, nay? We’ll see. 😉
Terranova Handwovens “Brilliance”
Weaver: Jennifer Erickson (USA) Weave: twill Material: EC Density: k.A.
How does it wrap?: This one catched my eye when the draw popped up. It’s not typically me when you know that I am #teampink but it has something about it I really love – and I was lucky to win it, yeehaw! I was anxiously waiting its arrival, knowing customs would hit me hard, and it did. But, totally worth it! This wrap is awesome, it’s the softest wrap I ever touched.
Like a blanket, for real! You see, it came with sleepy dust, too, and you need to know that my toddler doesn’t sleep anymore usually, during the day. On this day it was quite hot but no problem with my girl in a Ruck in this wrap. High five!
Wonder Woven “At First Blush” / “Darzawa” (competition-piece ’15)
How does it wrap?: Once in your babywearing lifetime, try to score a competition piece. This is just a sister but it’s drop dead gorgeous, too. Look at this colours, like a sunset, and a weaving technique I’ve never seen before. It wears wonderfully. And I was so lucky that another mama passed it on to me.
Still, I had to sell, you know, can’t have all the wraps. But this one hurted quite a lot, unique piece it was for me. Now I only talked about Darzawa, I had another one here, too, I guess all WWs are great wraps, but this one is their Masterpiece.
Und so trägt es sich / how does it wrap?: Lovely wrap in stunning colours, speaking of Galactica. The Twill weave brings more support then the plain weave of the Rosey wrap I had but I had no problems to wear my toddler with both of them. The tencel is amazing, I love its shimmer!
I think Chunky Slings really made a progress if I compare the first wraps I’ve seen to the ones that are woven now. Thus said, I can really recommend to try to get a (semi-)custom. Raisa really has an eye for not too obvious colour combinations.
The Silky Weave
Weaver: Sophie Avdey (CND) Weave: twill Material: Cotton Density: k.A.
I may or may not have discovered the talented Sophie Avdey for doing great work in weaving awesome baby wraps. When I accidentaly saw her inspiration pic for “Wisteria” on instagram (account is @akari_monogatari, yes japanese always pops to my eye ;)) I knew I’d need this! I am totally not into yellow but the combination of colours reminded me of crocuses and I found them just very lovely.
So I started to communicate with her and she was so lovely to chat with. So kind to explain everything from A-Z to me during the days till I finally managed to sort things out and order a wrap. And, of course, I couldn’t resist sharing my discovery and had some wrapista-friends to join in. 🙂 I started a group and from then one, destinty took its course and I guess Sophie is now very well occupied with freaking mamas opting for (semi-)custom slots. 😉 The work she’s done after Wisteria is even more impressive. I try to sit on my fingers all the time when a new warp is revealed. 😉
How does it wrap?: Amazing! One of the most comfy wraps I got! Not because it’s very soft but because I almost cannot feel the weight of my toddler, I can take her on a long walk, even up on a hill/mountain – no prob! The weaving is impeccable. You can clearly see the passion of Sophie for weaving. She takes her time but she really invests a lot of time to communicate with customers, documenting each step and even doing weft samplings which is not at all a certainty (but very, very helpful because it’s sooo difficult to foresee how a wrap will turn out with your choice of weft.
How does it wrap?: If you can guess which wrap is mine, will you? Well guessed, the one on the bottom. For sure you already found out that I am definitely a pink woman *lol*. This wrap reminded me of a marshmallow, or strawberry ice-cream, definitely something you’d choose if you could. 😉 Apart from being beautiful, the wrap is soft, lovely soft. Nice stretch, medium support. It’s worth it to follow Rhonda Brackett, she’s always got lovely stuff on her loom. 😉
Deutsch (German)
