Dyeing Oscha Vanilla Roses

I've been eagerly awaiting my Oscha preorder since February, as it contained several new dye projects which I was keen to get on with.  It arrived last week, and my first project was my size 5 Vanilla Roses (80% cotton, 20% silk).
I have to admit that this project did not go to plan. I thought I had ruined my wrap on several occasions, but thankfully managed to save it.  For those who are considering dyeing their Vanilla roses (this is the cotton/silk roses, rather than the tri-blend which is also available), be aware that the cotton ends up stained by the acid dye, and it doesn't always stain in the same colour as the acid dye!  I have not had this happen before with acid dyeing. I've occasionally had the cotton take-on a slight hint of the acid dye colour, but not actually change colour completely!  
Please be aware that this is definitely NOT a set of instructions for you to follow, as it went a bit wrong! However, I thought it would be fun to share what I did, and thankfully it does have a happy ending.

Firstly, my plan was to acid dye using olive green acid dye with a hint of turquoise, with the hope that the silk would end up a lovely subtle olive colour.  Unfortunately, I didn't know that using olive green acid dye would result in the cotton being stained a deep sand colour, so I ended up with something which I dubbed 'Sepia roses'.  These were not terrible if that was the effect I had been going for, and I did let them dry and try them on, but the colour didn't suit us at all, so I decided to try something else.

'Sepia Roses'

Next, I tried acid dyeing them using a mixture of deep blue and deep teal, hoping it would stain the cotton a slightly nicer colour and deepen the colour of the silk.  Unfortunately this didn't particularly have any effect, except to turn the whole thing a sludgey sand/green colour!  I also found that it was taking a lot of rinsing to get all of the acid dye out of the wrap, so by this time the wrap had been washed, acid dyed twice, and then washed a total of four times in an attempt to remove the excess dye!

In the wash with the Dylon

I wasn't sure what to do at this point, but decided I didn't really have anything to lose!  I wanted to attempt to achieve a turquoise colour, even if it meant losing some of the contrast, so I turned to Dylon, which would dye the cotton rather than the silk.  When dyeing over a colour you have to work out colour-mixing rules.  As the cotton seemed to be mainly a yellowy colour, with a hint of green, I knew that I needed to add something fairly blue to it, to achieve a turquoise colour. I chose Dylon 'Bahama Blue', as it is a bright, fresh colour, and I hoped it would be a strong enough colour to over-ride the dull, sludgey colour of the wrap, without taking away all of the contrast. 
It was a nerve-wracking couple of hours whilst waiting to see the result, and I was so delighted when I pulled out a beautiful deep teal/emerald coloured wrap, where the contrast was still clearly visible!  I had to do another wash to take out the excess dye, and the contrast has paled slightly as its dried, but I have to admit I am thrilled, and very relieved, with the results! Its a definitely a colour that I enjoy wearing, and I feel it suits us quite well!

Still wet, straight out of the wash

So in total the wrap has been washed 7 times, plus acid dyed twice, and dyed with Dylon once! No wonder if has shrunk in length from 4.45m on arrival, to 4.16m at the end of the process!  However, a couple of the washes I did were very hot, in an attempt to remove the copious amount of excess dye.  Thankfully the width of the wrap has only shrunk by half a cm, from 68cm wide, to 67.5cm wide.

Dry picture

I had a bit of fun doing this project, although it was nerve-wracking and disappointing on a couple of occasions.  I also have a size 4 Vanilla roses, and I have to admit that I think I will be keeping them natural at the moment (I will review the natural Vanilla roses soon).  I have heard that the tri-blend Vanilla roses appear to dye a lot better, with the cotton/linen not staining in the same way as the cotton/silk Vanilla roses.
I now have the job of breaking in my dyed roses, as after such a long process, the poor roses have taken some beating, and need a bit of tender loving care to soften them up again.  I have to add, however, that despite everything I have put the fabric through, it has remained in pristine condition. Oscha silk is obviously very hardy!

Review: Bebe Sachi Khadi Ring Sling

Brand: Bebe Sachi
Type: Handwoven Khadi Tribal Ringsling
Blend: 100% cotton (handspun cotton)

Whilst attending the European Babywearing Conference in Bristol last weekend, I was lucky enough to attend a workshop by Bebe Sachi, where Rita (the lovely lady behind Bebe Sachi) gave a wonderful talk about the background, aims, ethics and skills behind Bebe Sachi. 
Bebe Sachi wraps are handwoven in Bangladesh, by highly skilled handweavers, who's skills have been passed down through generations. Rita explained how these skills are no longer valued, as mechanical weaving has taken over, and these highly skilled men are no longer able to make a living out of handweaving.  By employing these people, Bebe Sachi allows them to remain living in their village, where they can live comfortably growing their own food, and earn a decent wage. During the presentation we viewed photographs and videos of the people at work weaving these wraps, which was amazing! We even saw pictures of all the thread hanging up having been dyed the correct colours ready for weaving! Rita has clearly put her heart and soul into Bebe Sachi, and is obviously emotionally vested in her employees' lives. 
Bebe Sachi produce both their normal handwoven wraps, and their handwoven Khadi wraps. Khadi wraps are made using handspun cotton (which is handspun out in Bangladesh), and involve a more intense, slower process than their standard range, but the finished wrap offers an amazing array of wrapping qualities.  The Khadi wraps are soft straight out of the bag, and have the perfect amount of diagonal stretch.  They are fairly textured, and have a slightly irregular finish due to the irregular nature of the handspun cotton, which I really love. The majority of Khadis so far appear to have been natural colours, but having seen a few sneak previews at the workshop, it looks like there are some beautiful colourful Khadi wraps in the pipeline!
I was very lucky that whilst chatting with Rita I expressed an interest in this beautiful Khadi ringsling, which turned out to be a one-of-a-kind sample ringsling. I feel so honoured that Rita said I would be welcome to give the ringsling a new home at the end of the conference!
I cannot begin to describe how I feel about this ringsling. Having heard so much about it's background, where it was made, and the Fairtrade ethics behind the company, it feels like such a special piece to own. Not only that, it is a completely unique sling, and having looked at the Bebe Sachi Facebook page, it looks as if it has travelled to and been used in many places around the world!
The ringsling itself is a dream to use. It is incredibly comfortable with my large 19 month old and moulds around him beautifully.  It pulls through the rings easily, and is very cushy on my shoulder. I think its pretty clear that I really, really love this ringsling!
Please take a look at the Bebe Sachi Facebook page for more information: www.facebook.com/bebesachi

A sample scrap of Natural Khadi, showing its wonderful texture.

European Babywearing Conference - what a weekend!!!

I don't really know where to start, as I have had such an amazing, fun, tiring, interesting and busy weekend at the first ever European Babywearing Conference.  I was very lucky that it was being held in Bristol, as I'm only 45 minutes down the road, and Bristol is rather special to me and my husband as it is where we first met whilst we were both at University there, and have never actually been back since we had Joey, so it was lovely to take Joey back to 'where it all started'!
The first day began bright and early, and when I arrived at 8am it was already very busy and really warming up outside. As I was volunteering on Saturday, I was given a volunteers tshirt and set to work, whilst my husband and Joey went to find the toys in the family room.  I distributed refreshments, filled goodie bags and generally kept busy until the event opened.  I managed to find a few minutes when the exhibition hall opened at 9:30am to have a quick look around. 
I knew I was wanting to buy a babywearing demo doll or two, so headed straight to the 'Touch Needs' stand, who had a great range of weighted demo dolls in various sizes and skin tones. I was very lucky and got a bargain newborn size doll, and also bought a 3-6 month size doll.  They are beautifully made dolls, and the weight distribution in them is perfect for practising and demonstrating any type of babywearing carrier/wrap.
After a quick peek at a few of the other stands, including Didymos, Kokadi, Connecta, Bebe Sachi, Action Baby Carrier and many others, I then spent the morning on the School of Babywearing stand, selling raffle tickets and giving out refreshments.  It was wonderful to watch the world of babywearers go by, with so many different people and children, all united by their interest in and love of  babywearing.
Just before lunch I rushed over to take part in the sling fashion show, which was great fun, if not a bit hectic!  Joey and I got the chance to model a Didymos Holi ring sling (which was amazing, and even more beautiful in person!) and a Kokadi Zebra wrap, which I also really fell for! In fact, despite my reservations with Kokadi cotton being suitable for a child of Joey's size, I treated myself to a Kokadi Zebra wrap on Sunday morning, as a lovely souvenir of the weekend (which was also a bargain at £40 for a size 5!). In fact, many of the companies had wonderful prices especially for the event, and I know many people went home with some wonderful bargain wraps and carriers!
I spent the afternoon on the front desk and then moved to the lending library, where I also helped give out pre-ordered conference wraps. I collected my pre-ordered Oscha Orion Lumina,, which will get its own review on the blog in the coming days.
I went home on Saturday having had a super day, and excited for the chance to relax a bit more on Sunday and enjoy everything that the conference had to offer.

We arrived again promptly on Sunday morning, and after signing up for a couple of workshops we then spent some time looking around the exhibition hall. After treating myself to the Kokadi Zebra we spent some time looking at all the amazing carriers on offer, and then I went to my first workshop. This was a talk given by Bebe Sachi, who I knew a little bit about before I arrived, but went away feeling completely overwhelmed by how special their wraps really are when you learn about everything that goes into handweaving them! I'm going to save this for a separate blog post though, as I was also lucky enough to get a one-of-a-kind handwoven Khadi ringsing from Bebe Sachi, and want to review it separately in the next few days. Trust me, it really is a special sling!
I also attended a wrapping workshop which was great, and I picked up some great tips which I'm eager to try out, and also listened to a talk about Kangaroocare, which is basically a technique being used with premature babies, where they are worn by their mother in a wrap, skin-to-skin, as much as possible after birth, and the positive effect for the baby and families is fantastic.  It was a really interesting talk! The raffle was drawn at lunch time, with a huge number of amazing prizes, and we were really lucky to come away with an ergo and a wrap scrap owl!
We returned home laden with goodies, and my mind buzzing with everything we had seen and learnt, and all the wonderful people I had finally met and chatted to!  I can't wait for next year!

My husband also spent some of the weekend wearing Joey whilst I was in the workshops.

My conference goodies!

European Babywearing Conference Day 1

I've just spent the day at the European Babywearing Conference in Bristol.  I was volunteering today, so I only got a small amount of time to look around, but it was still a brilliant day! I'll save my full report and pictures for after tomorrow, as I'm going back to spend the day taking part in the workshops and having plenty of time to look around the stalls. It was so lovely to meet so many other babywearers today, and I'm really looking forward to tomorrow!

Tutorial: Robin's Hip Carry

Carry: Robin's Hip Carry
Wrap Used: Natibaby Calypte Plum, size 6
Level of Difficulty: Easy-Moderate

This is one of my favourite carries, as it is a multi-layer hip carry which shows off both sides of the wrap beautifully.  I've used a size 6 wrap here, but it can be done using sizes 4-7, and you simply adjust where you tie it, and it will also vary depending on your size and the size of your child.

1. Start with your child sitting on the hip that you would normally carry them in, and your wrap over the opposite shoulder.  You should start with the middle-marker on your shoulder. I've used a double-sided wrap here, and have started with the 'wrong' side facing up.

2. Swap the hand holding your child, and reach behind you to take hold of the wrap.

3. Bring the wrap around your side and around your child's back.

4. Form a nice, deep seat for your child, by bringing the fabric up between you and your child, and making sure it supports your child from knee-to-knee.

5. Gather up the fabric in your hand, so that your child's weight is completely supported in the seat you have made for them. Make sure the fabric is tightened, particularly on the top rail.

6. Hold the gathered fabric in the hand closest to your child, and use the other hand to pull the wrap tight over your shoulder.

7. Bring the wrap over your shoulder. You want to keep the tension throughout, so that your child remains held securely, and cross the tail coming from over your shoulder UNDER the tail which is gathered in your other hand.

8. Keeping the tension, take the tail which has come from over your shoulder, and flip it back over your shoulder again. The 'right' side should now be facing upwards on your shoulder.

9. Keeping the tension in the tail held next to your child, reach round and take hold of the tail you have just passed back over your shoulder.  Tighten it all along the width of the wrap.

10. Bring both tails tightly round, and under your child's bottom.

11. If you are using a size 4, you will probably have to tie off here.  I prefer to  use a longer wrap, as it allows you to spread the passes and add extra support.

12. If you're using a longer wrap (probably size 5+), cross the tails under your child's botton and take them back under your child's legs, as you would with a basic Front Wrap Cross Carry (FWCC).

13. You can then take the tails around your to back, and you may need to tie off behind you, or if your wrap is long enough, you may prefer to bring it around again and tie in front.

14. You will have two layers of wrap over your shoulder. Adjust the botton layer to make it lay comfortably....

15....and then adjust the top layer, so that the weight is supported comfortably on your shoulder and is not digging into your neck.

16. Spread the cross passes over your child's bottom and back....

17...on both sides.

18. I like to tuck my child's shoulders in, although he sometimes prefers to have an arm or two out. With a much younger baby, you are more likely to want the wrap to come right up to the back of their neck, in order to offer them more support.

19. You're finished!

Let me know if you have any questions!