Review: Joy and Joe Fluffy Shades of Feathers

Hi!! So this review took a little longer than I planned. Life happened. Death happened. I had a rough few weeks. Super rough. I won’t bore you with the details. ANYWAYS, I made this short quick first impressions review of Joy and Joe Baby‘s Fluffy Shades of Feathers a few weeks ago. It’s only a couple minutes long (and captioned).

Now that I have put the sling through the ringer, it is time for a full review! Let me start off by saying this sling is so so soft. I still can’t get over how soft it is because a cotton machine woven should not be this soft! WOW! This is good and bad. Good because it makes this sling perfect for little babies. Bad because it makes you expect all cotton to be this soft. Wearing Maxine (29 lbs) is not ideal in this sling for long periods of time. Teething has been hard on her and she has wanted up way more than usual so I used this sling because it was fast. Repeatedly wearing her was hard on my shoulder but I think that it was because the shoulder got a little diggy for me with the repeated up and down.

If you look carefully, you can see “JJ” woven into the fabric.

This sling was SO moldable. The fabric was basically a second skin. If moldable is your thing, definitely try out this sling! Fluffy Shades of Feathers was very easy to adjust. Getting it through the rings was no problem at all. It also easily spread across my back.  The gathered shoulder helped this ring sling get a thumbs up from me.

 I would recommend Joy and Joe Baby Fluffy Shades of Feathers to all wearers. It is great for smaller infants, but can get uncomfortable in long periods of time for heavy toddlers. Also, if you enjoy a gathered shoulder, give this sling a spin!

Check out Joy and Joe Baby on Facebook and Instagram!

Woven Wrap Tutorial: Maxine’s Back Carry

Maxine’s back carry was a mistake. I started to do a ruck but Max was so upset and sleepy that the carry was way off centered. I was so flustered at that point that I just wrapped the L O N G tail around me a couple times and Maxine instantly fell asleep. The carry kept her in place so well! I use MBC all the time now.

This carry requires base minus one (-1) or longer.

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Here is how to do it!

You will start the wrap way off center so that the short tail hangs about to the middle of your hip and shoulders. Basically enough to make a candy cane chest belt.

Get baby on your back. Give them a distraction too…Maxine has a remote here.

Pin the wrap under your chin (or with your teeth if that’s your thing).

Make a seat that is spread knee to knee. Hammock for kiddo to sit in.

Gather and tighten the short side of the wrap. Pin it under your chin.

Working with the long side now, tighten then bring the bunched pass over both legs.

Bring the bunched pass in front of you to make a waist belt.

Now spread that pass over your back

Pull it tight. Be sure to pull all the slack out through the waist belt.

Carefully bring that pass under your arm

Give it one last tug to tighten.

Now do a candy cane chest belt!

I finish mine by bringing one tail through the ruck strap then I tie a single knot.
You can also finish with a sling ring or however else you finish a CCCB.

And that’s it! You did it!

Here is a video tutorial!

Tag your pictures of this carry with #maxsbackcarry so I can see you all rock it out!

Happy Babywearing!

Woven Wrap Tutorial: Traditional Sling Carry (formerly known as rebozo)

Woven Wraps are my favorite items to use for carrying Maxine around. One of my favorite quick carries to use with her is the traditional sling carry. This is done with a size base -3 to -6 wrap depending on your base size.

How to do the traditional sling carry!

Gather the wrap on your shoulder

 Bring the wrap across your back.

Gather the side that you pulled behind you in front by bunching in your hand.
Now for the slipknot. This seems harder than it actually is.

Bring the wrap over the tail that is hanging over your shoulder. Take that around and behind the hanging tail, and up.

Bring the wrap down.

Make a number 4 shape with the wrap. The side you are working with should go *behind* the tail.

Bring the end of the wrap around and through the hole that was made by that 4 shape.

Pull, and there is your slipknot! Do not pull it too tight yet.
Now you’re ready for your child.

Place baby on your shoulder in the burp position. Reach through the bottom of your pocket and gently grab baby’s ankles. Gently bring the carrier over the baby with the feet and ankles out at the bottom.

Make a hammock for baby to sit in with fabric knee to knee. Baby should be in an “M” position with knees higher than their bottom.

Now pull all slack (loose fabric) out of the wrap through the knot by pulling the tail strand by strand. That means to pull the fabric little by little firmly so that it is snug.

Once all of the slack is out, you can pull the slipknot tight to lock everything in place.

Make sure the fabric is spread out over your back!

Congratulations! You have completed the traditional sling carry!!

Be sure to show me your traditional sling carry on the Britt Brown Marsh Blog Facebook page!

Here is a handy graphic to help you remember how to make a slipknot. Share it with your friends!

Review: Bijou Wear!

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen me screaming BIJOU TENCEL IS MY JAM more than a couple of times. Finalllllllly, I am going to tell you why you and everyone you know needs to try it.

Jaime Gassmann is the mastermind behind Bijou Wear.  The company is named after her husband’s nickname for their baby. The love Jaime has for this company is so clear. She makes sure everything is perfect before she releases it. The wraps that I recently tried are Windmills Field of Dreams and Blast Lilac.

When I first saw Windmills Field of Dreams, I fell in love with the color. Green always looks great in a wrap. I questioned the windmills for about two seconds. I like them. I like them a lot. Especially when one lands right on Maxine’s bottom. When I wrapped with this, I was shocked at how a wrap so soft could make my toddler feel not-so toddler-like. Maxine is around 28 pounds and I could easily carry her around in a double hammock for an hour no problem. I did not need to adjust too much once I got the carry in place.

Check out that candy cane chest belt!!

This was also great in a front carry! Front wrap cross carry is still one of my go-to carries with Max, especially when she wants to nurse. Windmills glides easily and the width helped make it even easier to make my carries better with this wrap. Windmills is great for newborns especially since it is so soft. It would be awesome for toddlers too in multi-layer carries. It rocked a slip knot, but my favorite way to finish a carry with this wrap was with sling rings. I would recommend this wrap for all wrappers.

Here is a short tutorial on how to do a front wrap cross carry with Windmills Field of Dreams!

 

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Blast lilac!! How I miss thee! This wrap was the same blend as Windmills, but it felt SO different! Magic! This design is my favorite out of all things Bijou Wear. Maxine loved this wrap as well and constantly asked for ups in this purple beauty. My favorite carry to do with this wrap was a ruck. It is flat with a little cush on the shoulders in my opinion. It pleated well on its own too.

Blast Lilac almost always put Maxine to sleep. There was no fighting this wrap. Denser than windmills, this was still pretty soft in hand. It was flatter than windmills. I would wear this out for a long trip in the summer no problem. This would be just fine in a single layer carry with a toddler, but multi-layer carries are where the magic happens! This rocked a double hammock like nobody’s business. The knots all stayed in place incredibly well! I was so impressed. It also was good with a ring finish. The width of this wrap easily handled all 35 inches of Maxine. I recommend this wrap to new wrappers up through wrapping pros. If you like medium/thin wraps that are smooth but just enough grip to keep those passes in place, this is the wrap for you!

Be sure to check out Bijou Wear on Facebook and Instagram!