Handwoven Melodies Behind the Wall (semi custom) Review

Handwoven Melodies Behind the Wall
100% cotton / aquamarine weft
11 months and 24 pounds, and 2 years and 37 pounds

I was lucky enough to win a draw for a Handwoven Melodies Behind the Wall semi custom wrap back in October. This was my first foray into handwovens and I couldn't have picked a better weaver than Morgan at Handwoven Melodies to take me thru the semi custom process. Behind the Wall is a wrap designed to help raise awareness about the issues of domestic and sexual violence and was inspired by the purple and teal colors of the awareness ribbon for these issues and named for the Tracey Chapman song. Morgan donated half the proceeds from an auctioned Behind the Wall ring sling to a worthy women's charity.

Morgan was an absolute delight to work with and patient with me as I asked to sample many different colors. The process of seeing different color wefts woven in was incredibly interesting. I couldn't believe how different the warp could appear depending on weft color. I ended up selecting a cotton aquamarine weft, and the result is a bright and vibrant jewel toned wrap. Morgan is a true artist in how she puts colors together on the loom. Talking with her about what colors would work best and enhance, or which would detract from the warp was eye opening and I really appreciated her thoughts and time talking me thru choosing the weft. From start to finish the entire process was much faster than I had anticipated. I was drawn a winner on October 10th and the completed wrap arrived November 18th.

 

 

In hand I was surprised how soft this all cotton wrap felt right away, no breaking in needed. I had also learned from Morgan that handwovens are wet finished and ready to wear when received. When something this beautiful arrives you don't want to have to wait to wear it, so I loved that I could wrap with it right away. I was also surprised how weighty it is folded up, I had 4.4 meters woven for me. The colors were exactly what I was expecting from the pictures, just slightly more saturated in real life, beautiful deep purples and bright teals and greens with a few hits of creams and dusty blues. The wrap is thinner and fairly smooth and appears very densely woven, but if you hold it up to the light you can see some airiness in the weave and there is a delicate texture clearly evident which I felt may help hold carries in place.

The colors together are beautiful as the pictures will attest. I've long admired the simple aesthetic of a herringbone weave and here it works perfectly. I received this wrap in the Fall, but can imagine wearing it all year round, the colors are just that good! This is also stunning dressed up or down, a perfect jeans and tee woven wrap in my opinion...a wrap that will make you feel pretty and put together no matter what.

I have worn Behind the Wall in FWCC, ruck, double hammock and DH variations such as TAS and CCCB. I had anticipated there would be a little grip and there is, nothing difficult to work with, just enough to stop this from being a slippy wrap. What stands out to me is that there is a nice feeling of cush on the shoulders, but this is not a thick wrap, more thin to medium. I wore both my 11 month old and my 2 year old. My 2 year old actually has brought this wrap to me on more than one occasion which never happens, as I got into wrapping with my younger son and I've had to beg my older boy to go up before. I was able to wear my 2 year old, who is 37 pounds in a ruck and the comfort was satisfactory, which I think says a lot for an all cotton wrap that is thin to medium in a single pass carry with no additional chest belt support. Floppy out of the box, Behind the Wall continues to get even more floppy with use. Excellent drape and effortless pleating. I love how small the knots are and a CCCB is just perfect in this wrap, not too bulky at all. As a lover of stretch there isn't a lot of stretch here for me, just a very small diagonal stretch, but I find for the most part I do not miss my stretch.

In summary Behind the Wall is a soft, floppy, and easy wearing wrap. Lovers of softness and airy cushiness will be delighted. If you are looking for perfect weaving and flawless selvedges this one is for you! I would not recommend this wrap to someone looking for a thick, very dense, or grippy wrap. Depending on your wrapping style this could well be a one and done wrap from newborn to toddler. It has the softness for a newborn, and is thin enough not to overwhelm a very small baby. For toddlers the support is here, even in a ruck and even better in multi pass carries. This wrap shines in a double hammock and I would recommend it most in a base or base - 1 size. Finally I really love supporting Canadian weavers and Morgan is also local to me in BC, so that's even better. Thank you Morgan for designing and weaving such beautiful creations!