Monthly Archives: August 2015

Bebe Sachi Warna review

13/08/2015Bebe Sachi, Reviews, Woven wrap reviewsSallySycha

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Manufacturer – Bebe Sachi

Design – Warna

Colour – Rainbow

Blend – 100% cotton

Weight – 192gsm

Width of wrap – 60cm

Size tested – 6

Retail price of tested design and size – £123

Provided to me by – Bebe Sachi

Website – Bebe Sachi

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Initial thoughts on design, colour and feel

I don’t know where to start with Warna, as it is so much more than just a wrap! I picked up this tester from the Bebe Sachi stand at the European Babywearing Conference, and also attended Azizah’s (from Bebe Sachi) workshop on the handloom legacy and the work that Bebe Sachi do helping people in Bangladesh. Bebe Sachi are a social enterprise providing employment for hand weavers in their own villages, thus enabling them to stay with their families and to maintain their heritage of handweaving. The weavers weave when suits them, fitting this work in around other work such as farming, family duties and religious festivals. By keeping the men in employment within the villages, this means the land can still be farmed fully and the women and children are also safer from the violence that is unfortunately a problem in this area of the world. So families can stay together, maintaining their heritage, and be safer, all because Bebe Sachi buy all of their output (fabric not suitable for baby wraps is made into bags and other accessories). So, from all of that you can probably tell I was inspired by Azizah’s talk and the ethos of Bebe Sachi.

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My initial thoughts on Warna (meaning colour in Malay), were that the colours are stunning, a really vibrant and cheerful rainbow, and in fact the brightness of this wrap is why it was selected for me to review, due to my Facebook page about how babywearing can help with postnatal depression (Sling Sally on Facebook). Instantly from brand new the wrap felt lovely and soft and floppy, there was no stiffness to it at all. Warna is a little narrower than Bebe Sachi’s usual width, and was designed with teaching and learning in mind as the different coloured rails are brilliant for demonstrating as well as understanding yourself which rail you are working with.

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I have been using Warna frequently now for over a month and it is a dream to wrap with. We’ve used it for front and back carries, and for short and long trips and I cannot fault it in any way. It seems to mold itself around Reu (18 months old), and I , and wrapping with it feels effortless. Reu feels weightless despite being an active and occasionally bouncy (in the wrap), toddler, so I would say Warna is supportive enough from newborn up to toddler (and I expect beyond). The narrower width should also help when wrapping a smaller newborn. The passes stay where you put them, and knotless finishes hold very well as there is a good amount of grip to the wrap, but not so much that there is friction when you are spreading passes. The wrap feels quite thin and light, but it hasn’t once pinched or dug anywhere (which can sometimes be a problem with thinner wraps), and has been very comfortable to use. It’s been quite hot here recently and Warna has been lovely and cool to use, even on hot days, and even though the tester wrap is a size 6. I’ve also used Warna to demonstrate some carries and the bright and different coloured rails have definitely helped with both the demonstration and the understanding of the audience.

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Overall thoughts

I love Warna! It has been a real pleasure to test Warna for Bebe Sachi and I have loved wrapping with it every time I have used it. Unfortunately they are out of stock or I would have added Warna to my personal stash, but instead I have added Bebe Sachi Biru and in the short time it’s been here I can already say it’s also brilliant, and I’ll also be keeping my eyes open for a Warna of my very own.

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Bebe Sachi are excellent value and quality handwoven wraps, being half to a third of the cost of many other handwoven wrap producers. Add to that the good they are doing for the communities and families they are working with, and you can’t go wrong with a wrap from them.

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Soul – Ring Slings review

03/08/2015Reviews, Ring Slings, Soul - Ring SlingsSallySycha

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Manufacturer – Soul – Ring Slings

Design – Single layer linen

Colour – Olive

Blend – 100% linen

Retail price of tested design and size – 2000 INR (approx £20 at time of review)

Provided to me by – Soul – Ring Slings

Website – Soul Slings

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Soul Slings are an Indian, family run company making ring slings and promoting babywearing. Their prices start from the equivalent of approximately £15, so they are a very affordable ring sling producer, and they have some really lovely designs. I have tested their 100% linen single layer olive ring sling, which has a gathered shoulder.

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Being 100% linen the fabric was a little stiff to pull through the rings initially but this has already improved with use and I’m sure with a little more use it will glide through easily. The linen is really strong, and lovely and light and airy. Soul say their ring slings are good for hot weather so we’ve been testing this one out on hot days and in our very warm polytunnel (a polytunnel is like a giant plastic greenhouse for growing plants, and it can get very hot in there). Even in the hottest we’ve tested it with it’s remained cool throughout, and you can even feel a lovely draft though the fabric.

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The fabric is much thinner than most woven wrap fabric ring slings available, but it is thicker and more supportive than the muslin ring slings (also marketed for warm weather), that are on the market. With the muslin ring slings you have to pay a bit more attention to your strand by strand tightening to get a comfortable carry, and I found the Soul ring sling to be in between this and a thicker woven wrap ring sling, where you can get away with being a bit less precise. However this is easily adapted to and once you have the ring sling set up for you and your baby you probably won’t need to make many adjustments anyway. I also really liked that the manufacturer and safety label are within the shoulder so hidden from view.

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Overall I found the Soul ring sling a really nice, cool and supportive ring sling, and excellent quality and value. It was great in the hot weather but would be equally good anytime of the year, as with other ring slings. These ring slings would make a great addition to a personal or library/consultants stash.

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Serena Slings Fairytale review

02/08/2015Reviews, Serena Slings, Woven wrap reviewsSallySycha

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Manufacturer – Serena Slings

Design – Fairytale

Colour – Purple

Blend – 55% linen, 45% cotton

Weight – 290gsm

Width of wrap – 72cm

Size tested – 6

Retail price of tested design and size – Unreleased at time of review (their released size 6 is 149 Euros)

Provided to me by – Serena Slings

Website – Serena Slings

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I was one of the first people lucky enough to test the new Serena Slings Fairytale wrap, so it was brand new when I received it. It’s a lovely purple and off white colour, with a magical design of a castle, tree, pumpkin carriage and a winged unicorn. The design is very effective from either side so both sides can be worn outwards. This wrap is quite wide at 72cm, and actually felt wider, but how wide you like a woven wrap is very much a personal preference. With quite a tight weave and 55% linen, Fairytale was a little stiff out of the box, but it noticeably softened in the short time it was with me, so although it will require some breaking in, I don’t believe it would take as long as some other linen blends that I’ve tried (and am still battling with!), and the wrap feels very strong in exchange.

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During Fairytale’s visit Reu (18 months old), and I tried out a few different carries. We tried a front wrap cross carry, a ruck with knotless tibetan finish, and a double hammock with freshwater finish. For the first uses of Fairytale it felt a bit stiff, which can be common with a new wrap (and especially linen blends). By the time I sent it on to the next tester it was noticeably easier to use and was softening nicely, so this shouldn’t be an issue for long if you were to buy one of these wraps. All three carries held very well and I found Fairytale grippy, strong and very secure. The passes stayed where I put them and didn’t slip or pull, despite a lively toddler testing them out. The knotless finish held well with no loosening at all. The double hammock with freshwater finish was very comfortable, which I put down to the secureness of the wrap job and the lack of sagging in the wrap. Some of the days we tested Fairytale it was quite hot but I never felt too warm while carrying Reu in it, which is another advantage to the linen.

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Overall, I found Fairytale to be a very good wrap. It will require some breaking in to get it soft and floppy, but I haven’t yet met a linen blend wrap that doesn’t need breaking in, and it’s already in a better state than a Natibaby linen blend that I bought pre loved (and that I really must put some more time into!). So don’t let this put you off, as in exchange the linen will provide strength and a coolness to your wrap, and will be worth the effort. Reu’s a lively toddler and Fairytale stood up to his weight and jiggling about very well, and could take a much heavier toddlers weight well. Serena Slings are a new company and have just released their first design called Florella, which is a beautiful butterfly design, with Fairytale and Tyger soon to follow. All three designs are lovely (Fairytale is definitely my favourite though), so I look forward to seeing the company grow and their future designs.

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