Pavo Textiles Love Birds Vespertine

Pavo Love Birds Vespertine

SilverSpun™ 85% Egyptian cotton / 8% silver / 7% nylon

21 months and 28 pounds

Wrapping up International Babywearing Week 2016 I've decided to review one of my most favorite wraps ever. The wrap that gives my wrappee the best seat in the house. When I love a wrap so much, and instantly, it feels like a good idea to take my time and see how I feel about it after a couple of months of wearing. This is not usually possible with testers, but I am fortunate with Vespertine.
 

 

When Love Birds Vespertine first arrived back in July I took it out of the tote and it was so soft I couldn't believe it was a loom state wrap. I even wore it once before washing! Oopsie! The other thing that struck me is how lovely and shimmery the wrap is, like a warm liquid metal, this natty just glows! I've often said no one does cotton like Pavo, with their complex weaves, but no one does natty like Pavo either, there is magic woven into the process somehow. Vespertine already reminded me of another classic Pavo natty, Acanthus, and it may just end up ranking right up there with it.

  

Vespertine is thinner in hand than previous Love Birds, such as Socorro. Also for how soft the wrap is, the texture is still very pronounced, grooved and spongy between my fingers. Soapy is a term that took me awhile to figure out when I first started babywearing. This wrap is textbook soapy, the fabric glides easily thru my fingers, never catching and glides nicely against itself too, but it is not slippery. There is very high amount of diagonal stretch, which is a long standing favorite wrap quality of mine. Though Love Birds in general is a denser weave, this version is airier than others. Squeezing the wrap in my hands the airiness and sponginess is evident.

 

 

From the Pavo Customer Appreciation group, "Love Birds is based on a historical document. It is our signature design for Guild, it represents our relationship with the Oriole Mill and the revival of American textile manufacturing through the babywearing community.

Pavo is a bird, Oriole is a bird. We make a Guild." - Erinea Arnason.

The design of Love Birds is classic and timeless. Truly a babywearing textile that you can hand down to your children to wear their children in and it will still look elegant all those years later. The contour binding in the negative space between the birds and other smooth elements of the weave adds a dimension and complexity in the appearance and will translate well to wrapping and wearing experience. Love Birds as a natty takes the design to the next level in my opinion. I was long DISO (desperately in search of) a long Dove Birds, everything about those natty birds looked like perfection to me. Add in SilverSpun™ by the Feel Good Yarn Company and these birds take flight. The shine to me resembles liquid metal, just luxurious and lovely. The drape and how the wrap puddles further looks like liquid metal. This woven wrap will fit in with many style aesthetics because really you can't go wrong with a natty.

 

Love Birds Socorro was the first wrap were double hammock finally clicked for me and was enjoyable and easy, so I had high expectations for Vespertine. I've also been very curious about silver in wraps, I mean what sounds more unicorn like than silver yarn? Best wraps are so subjective. My own favorite wrap qualities are thin in hand, high amount of stretch, soapy, cushy, I also need amazing support for a toddler - in short I don't ask for a lot, haha! Love Birds Vespertine delivers solid 10s on all my favorite wrap qualities. I've used Vespertine in many double hammock and ruck variations as well as FWCC and it is solid in all carries. Wrapping with it is close to effortless, moulds to you and baby perfectly and hugs tightly. Recoil here is also a 10! Pleating and tightening also happens ease. The most important thing for me is how cushy the wrap is. There is zero dig and solid support for my toddler wrappee, but the cush is just unbelievable for me. I am currently dealing with a back injury and this is one of the few wraps that doesn't cause me pain and I can wear for more than 10-20 minutes at a time. How Vespertine moulds to my baby and creates a solid perfect seat that bounces along as we move, is a revelation. I've often had to adjust seats with other wraps as my wrappee is in that leg straightening, seat popping stage, but this wrap is surprisingly a bit of a toddler prison, even though it is thinner than what one would expect a toddler prison wrap to be.

 

 

If you are a Pavo Love Birds fan you will need to add this one to your babywearing bucket list. It's very similar to previous Lovebirds, but Vespertine feels airier yet heavier in a weird way - like wrapping with a cool, dense cloud. So soft, thin in hand, soapy, floppy, mouldable, with great bounce and recoil. If any of that appeals to you, look no further. Love Birds Vesperine is a wrap I would recommend wholeheartedly for a newborn and all the way up to a heavy toddler. Normally a wrap that is as soft as this for new squishes I wouldn't think would be toddler worthy too, but this one really, really is. If you have an issue with pull prone wraps, well, run away. Vespertine in my experience has been very, very pull prone, to the point I can wear no jewelry while wrapping with it, but the weave structure is such that pulls don't stand out too badly and because there are long floats they are relatively easy to fix. Additionally if you like dry, grippy, or blankety wraps, you are going to want to pass as well.

 

 

Thank you so much to Jennifer and Erin at Pavo for letting me experience this epic wrap!

 

Ethos Phoebe Natural Handwoven Review

Ethos Phoebe Natural Handwoven
cotton/banana silk / 350 GSM
11 months and 22 pounds

This Ethos Phoebe is a weighty and organic feeling natty. Wraps of course are often described as blankety and this wrap is actually blankety. The texture and nubs make Phoebe an interesting looking natty, even with a straight twill weave, while the banana silk adds a slight sparkle and sheen. There are many variations in the weave which speak to the handcrafted nature of the wrap and add to the organic look.

 

In hand there wasn't much stretch, just a bit diagonally. Folding and unfolding is a workout as this is a heavier wrap. The handspun yarn gives Ethos Phoebe a beautiful slub texture, but I anticipated a grippiness that will suit slightly more experienced wrappers.

I don't own a natty and tend to prefer patterned wraps, yet the simple handcrafted aesthetic of this wrap appeals to me. Testing this in the Fall was perfect, as the wonderful nubby texture fits right in with cozy sweaters and toques.

 

Perhaps its watching Frozen one too many times with my toddler, but wearing this wrap is best described as a warm hug! As I had anticipated some work is required to get passes into place due to the grippy texture, but once you do what a soft, snuggly, and supportive carry you'll experience. Using this wrap more, in FWCC and DH, I couldn't think of a wrap I've used to compare it to, it's unique. Airy and Cushy. Soft and mouldable. Yet this is also a heavy wrap, and most heavy wraps I have tried don't have such airiness, nor mould and pleat like Ethos Phoebe does. The longest I wore my baby at a stretch in Ethos Phoebe was 2 hours and no adjustments were needed, but what a knot!

 

Ethos Phoebe was an absolute pleasure to test. I love that banana silk, while soft and strong, is also eco-friendly and vegan! Banana silk isn't silk at all, but is a fiber made from trunks of banana plants and has a similar appearance to silk. Ethos sources their banana silk from Nepal where the wraps are also woven on traditional looms. These handwoven wraps are a great cost-effective option at $70usd/meter, as well as being fair-trade and sustainable. I would not recommend this wrap to a brand new wrapper. Even though it is breathable, it is heavy and could be cumbersome without a little experience. The lovely texture also gives this wrap a grippiness that a slightly experienced wrapper will be able to handle. Phoebe will be a wonderful cushy and supportive wrap from a shorty to your base size, particularly with babies 20 pounds and up and well into toddlerhood.

 

 

Thank you Ethos Babywearing for the opportunity to test Phoebe Natural!

For more information on Ethos Babywearing, and their handwovens please visit here where Phoebe Natural is also in stock.