I have finally passed on my Woven Wings to the next lucky tester…. and was very sorry to have to pack it up! Woven Wings is a new wrap company, run by Christina Mitchell. The company is British, and based in London – more home grown talent, fantastic!
She sent me Geo Blush, a 100% Egyptian cotton wrap in a size 6. I had seen a few sneak previews of the wrap before it arrived and as I am fair-skinned and fair-haired I had expected to be concentrating mainly on the wrap qualities, as I really can’t wear orangey colours at all.
How wrong I was! When I opened the bag I was immediately taken with the warmth and glow of the colours, a pinky coral coloured geometric design on a creamy background. There is a wonderful sheen and a real softness to the fabric, even brand new. I had been expecting to be able to “feel” the pattern under my fingers, but it was very smooth to touch. (Christina tells me it has been finished in house, so there was no need to wash before use).
It feels strong, despite the softness, due to the density and closeness of the weave. It has a really lovely drape and fall, and feels more like a luxury fabric than a cuddle blanket. It is not heavy, or thick and squishy, more of a medium weight and feels light to handle. Official figures have it at 252g/m2. The hems are immaculately sewn, with no loose ends or wobbly lines. It looks very professional.
The colours really did work very well with my skin tone, and it turns out that Christina sent it to me specifically, knowing that it would look good! She knows her colours well – and it is obvious from the range she has designed that she knows what works well in terms of colours and pattern when worn, as opposed to on the page. The Geo design is stunning when wrapped.
I really like the logo, a pair of green angel feathered wings on a black background. It is distinctive and stylish. It was lightly tacked onto the outside of the wrap for testers, and I am reliably informed that the released wraps will have two middle markers, made of this logo, smaller and hemmed into the top and bottom rail facing inwards.
There is another smallish label with the name Woven Wings, Manufactured in England near the edge of the taper (the tapers are standard tapers, not blunt, not too long).
So, how does it wrap?
It wraps very well. Light and airy to manoeuvre, it handles well and the passes are easy to make, with no catching of fabric or struggling to move the width of the fabric along. It has a little bit of diagonal stretch, but not too much so it is reasonably easy to get the fabric snug (a little work is required due to the tightness of the weave – ie it has some mouldability, other, looser wraps will have more). The sheen and glide of the soft smooth fabric are a real gift to a long wrap that uses multiple passes and it was a matter of moments to wrap my two-year-old into a secure double hammock.
Geo Blush felt lovely to wear. It wasn’t hot, my daughter enjoyed being in it, there was a little bounce, but no sag. My shoulders did not feel dug into, and it felt very supportive. All good!
A kangaroo wrap, which is tricky to do perfectly, took a little more effort, as the lack of texture meant that the flipped shoulders had a tendency to slide off my shoulders. I am an experienced wrapper and can get my passes into the right places quickly and easily and keep things tight as they go, because of this I had a little bit of concern that this could feel a little slippy for the less experienced.
However, the wrap was brand new and “finished” in house to make it need less breaking in from new, which can “flatten” the pattern somewhat. Often a little bit of use and breaking in will change this, as well as washing.
I took Geo to the Sheffield Slings slingmeet, where it was tried out by lots of people. The main comments were how lovely it looked, how soft it felt, how easy it was to wrap with, but some people did find it a little bit slippy (it was still quite new).
I took the tester to a gathering of other babywearing consultants one weekend, where it was a hit. Everyone loved the look, the feel, the shine. All agreed how lovely and comfortable it was to wrap with.. the more use it got, the less slippy it became. We all really enjoyed it. Small babies enjoyed the softness of the cotton and bigger children were well supported too.
My last test was to try Geo Blush out in a single layer carry with my five year old son, to see how well it performed. I was impressed – and so was he! It was a quick wrap job as he doesn’t have a lot of patience with fiddling about with fabric.
It was solid in a ruck carry with a knotless Tibetan finish. No slipping once it was secure, and my son said it felt nice and didn’t hurt under his knees, which for him is important, no diggy rails for him, and comfortable shoulders for me – this was a success!
In summary, I have loved hosting Woven Wings Geo Blush and was very sorry to see it move on to the next tester, Lindsay at Chesterfield Sling Library. It feels and wraps like a luxury fabric – strong and soft, light and airy, with a lovely handle. It is very comfortable to wear and stunning to look at. Those new to wrapping should appreciate the delightful glide that makes creating passes very easy, and the early slip is easy to overcome with familiarity and breaking in.
The Woven Wings team have been a pleasure to communicate with, happy to answer questions, and aim to provide extremely high quality slings at more attainable prices. I am reliably informed that Woven Wings operates ethically and sustainably in the sourcing of all its fabrics, and the care and attention that has gone into creating these slings is obvious. There is clearly a dedication to the comfort of parent and child and a desire to add to the delight and pleasure of babywearing. I wish Christina and Woven Wings every success.
http://www.wovenwings.co.uk/
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