Babywearing: Woven Wraps

In the previous post in this series, I highlighted stretchy wraps. In this post, we'll talk about woven wraps. Again, this is a wrap because it's a long piece of cloth that you wrap around your body and tie. Woven wraps are not stretchy. They're woven pieces of cotton, linen, silk, and even cashmere (or a blend--cotton/linen is popular). These wraps are workhorses. Why? Well...
They're workhorses because they do everything. Woven wraps are good from birth through the toddler years. You can use them for front, back, or hip carries. They're amazing.

Downsides: there are a bazillion different weaves, sizes, and prices. It can be a bit intimidating when you're first entering the world of woven wraps, because there are so many options to choose from. Also, because these don't stretch, there's more of a learning curve when it comes to the actual wrapping. But there are also a ton of really great tutorials online, and it just takes a quick trip to Youtube and a little practice to get the hang of these awesome carriers.

Peanut and I volunteering together. She's in back carry using my Natibaby Butterflies cotton/linen blend.

Some of the best-known brands of woven wraps (again, there are a billion, so this is a shortened list):

• Natibaby--tons of colors, patterns, and fabrics and nicely supportive without being hugely thick.
• Girasol--there are old weaves and new weaves. The old weaves are thicker with a right & a wrong side. The new weaves are thinner and the pattern is on both sides.
• Hoppediz--come in regular and "light". The regular ones are pretty thick and blankety and take some work to break them in. The light ones are thinner.
• Vatanai--Their normal wraps are nice and thin, but a little less supportive for heavier babies/toddlers. Great for hot weather, though, since they're pretty breezy.
• Didymos--Lots of different weaves and fabrics. They do have their own sizing chart, so be aware of that. Great wraps and very popular.
• Gypsy Mama (Wrapsody) Bali Breeze--This is actually a gauze wrap, rather than a woven. They are thin and light and extremely supportive. Probably the best wrap out there for hot weather. Beautiful, bright colors. Downside--these take a while to break in and are less forgiving when wrapping, so you probably don't want to start out with this as a beginner. I recently acquired one of these--pictures to come.

It's worth mentioning that these carriers really hold their value well, and resale at great prices. :) I have never actually bought a brand new carrier. There are a number of great, reliable swap boards online where you can buy, sell, or trade for a new carrier--at discounted prices, since they're used. My Nati, pictured above, was my first woven wrap. I loved that piece of cloth. It was so soft. I eventually traded it for my Girasol Inara's Rainbow, pictured below.

Peanut, around 8 months old, in a front wrap cross carry (FWCC). I adore these colors.

Note: I initially stated erroneously that there had been counterfeit Girasols. As far as I can find, this is not the case.