Introduction
I have been a fan of Emmeline Textiles since I first laid eyes on their dyed wraps in a babywearing Facebook group. I rarely see dyed wraps that catch my attention, but wraps that are dyed by Ali at ET are like no others – the dye jobs are vibrant, the colors are beautifully complementary, and they look absolutely flawless! The first dyed ET wraps I saw were Eleanore Pearls in some blue and blue-green grads – I will (hopefully) review and ET EP in the future. One great thing that I love about ET is that they weave so many undyed wraps! Each ET wrap that is dyed in-house is unique, so it has not been easy to get my hands on one…until now!
I received Sorbet, that is a pink to orange color gradation on a Partita no. 6 that was dyed in-house by the fabulous Ali at Emmeline Textiles. It is actually a size 3, not a size 4 as was listed on their website (they alerted me to the true size), but that was cool with me because I am basically doing the same carries with both sizes at this point – my toddler is huge! My first impression when I took it out of the box was that it glows, even in my dark apartment at night. I could tell that this dyed wrap was going to be special.
Since in-house dyed wraps from ET come washed and ready to wear, we tried our first ups as soon as possible! Size 3 is Base-3 for us, so we first tried Kangaroo carry to have some milk on the way to dinner. The moldability impressed me right away especially before it’s been broken in, and Sorbet was super supportive with my giant guy, even in a single pass carry. Believe me when I say that that is quite a feat! We tied a double knot in the tiptails, and Partita no. 6 was up to the task – there was no slipping, and the whole carry was super solid.
Sorbet must have been super comfortable for LittlerHill too, because the next morning he did not want to go in any other wrap for our walk to preschool! When I reached for a longer monochrome wrap, he said “Not THAT one! I want the ORANGE one!” and so it went…I have been hiding Sorbet from him in order to use any of my other wraps ever since!!
We tried a Shepherd’s carry, which hasn’t previously been one of my favorite carries, but I want to learn to love it and this wrap was up to the task. The two-passes were super comfy and supportive with my big guy, and he seemed to really be able to relax and chill out on my back while we walked to preschool. Partita no. 6 is a modified herringbone pattern that gives the wrap the perfect amount of an even microtexture to allow the passes to slide and then stick right in place so it was almost like Sorbet wrapped itself in this carry.
Lastly, I tried a simple ruck tied in front (Ruck TIF) for a trip into the NYC subway, and – I kid you not – with just a single knot the carry felt very secure (*safety disclaimer: you should always tie a double knot to finish any carry with a woven wrap*). LittlerHill was in one of his bouncier moods, which usually requires a longer wrap tied with two leg passes, as in Wendy’s Double Hammock, but Sorbet in a ruck did better than I would have expected! My wrap job stayed very solid through the bouncing, wiggling, leaning, stairs, stairs, more stairs, and even a short wrapee-standing-up-while-wrapped episode when I took a seat on the C train (ahh…toddler wearing in the city, at its best). Every time I wrap with Sorbet I like it even more.
The sturdy softness (and arriving ready to wear) combined with a superb one-of-a-kind dye job have made Sorbet one of my favorite wraps already! I can’t wait to try more from Emmeline Textiles, and I hope that a few more of Ali’s dyed wraps will make their way to us for a visit.
The stats
weaver: Emmeline Textiles
line: Partita no. 6 (dyed Sorbet – a pink to orange grad)
size: 3 (3.2-3.3 m from ET website)
width: 63 cm (25 in)
soft tape in hand: 3.42 m
blend: 100% cotton
wrappee: 30+ lbs of toddler
carries tried: Ruck tied in front (Ruck TIF), Kangaroo, Shepherd’s carry
wrap qualities: new wrapper friendly, medium thickness, medium density, good recoil, supportive, cushy, not diggy, moderately grippy, bouncey, very moldable, toddler worthy for single pass carries, ace bandagey, solid, microtextured, probably squish worthy once broken in, pleats itself, passes glide easily enough for multipass carries