Babywearing Hoodie
Size: M
Lenka’s View:
I must admit right at the beginning that I am a bit spoiled by my own wonderful, custom-made babywearing hoodie and therefore I find very few things to be as wonderful… Loktu She hoodie is simply, ehm – ordinary, compared to my own one. It is sewn very well, that I have to say; the material is thin so it is perfect for cooler summer evenings or for warmer autumn. The insert is just great, in my opinion – I do not mind the absence of the hood (I do not use the hood of the insert after all, because I usually wear a wrap and fix the head of the wearie with the wrap itself; moreover, all the carriers are equipped with their own hood, as far as I know), it is possible to adjust the hood right behind the wearie’s neck, and to fasten it very high so you do not need to be afraid that even the smallest baby would be cold around his/her neck. Moreover, this is an advantage for wearing on the back where the wearie is logically positioned one level higher – you can fasten the insert high enough to cover the wearie’s back completely.
Babywearing on the back is, however, a bit problematic when it comes to babywearing clothes, in my opinion. The first problem – it usually requires unfastening and refastening of the insert (which is a little bit annoying for me – again, I am spoiled by my own ingenious babywearing jacket which has a ˈbuilt-inˈ, ˈhingedˈ insert).
The second problem is the putting-on of the hoodie itself and aiming for the head of the baby with the ˈholeˈ – with such a stretchy material that this hoodie is made of, it is quite hard and requires help of a third person, in my opinion, or at least I needed it. And the third problem – how big the ˈholeˈ for the wearie should be to be tight enough around his/her shoulders but not to strangle him/her at the same time? It is not surprising that Emilka does not like to have her arms hidden inside the wrap or hoodie all the time – sticking them out was not a problem at all, but she was not able to put them inside on her own – I have no idea why but the main thing that prevented her from doing so was the front hem of the ˈholeˈ and not the hem of the insert.
You can also adjust the insert with an elastic cord under the bum of the wearie, while wearing both in front and on the back – the hoodie then fits just perfectly around the baby’s back and the wearer is not cold from down below. 😀 I was also very pleased that the hood is detachable (the big one, of the wearer) – not every manufacturer remembers the fact that a hood that cannot be detached can be a bit annoying for the wearie on the back.
I also have to commend the hoodie on being wonderfully long! The sleeves are long, too, a bit too long for us midgets to be honest, but thanks to their ends being draped it was not too obvious that there was about 10cm excess of fabric. I kind of missed some kind of neck protection; however, this hoodie is not meant to endure Siberian winter therefore I actually cannot have a ˈrealˈ problem with this hoodie. 😉
Moreover, it looks really good without a wearie and does not resemble to a hot air balloon without a baby. As far as the sizing goes, size M was OK (or a bit too big) for me and Emilka, which means it fits true to size.
Bottom line – well-sewn, thin summer or warm-autumn hoodie with a great insert; as far as the design goes, nothing revolutionary; however, not everyone wants to look like a rainbow unicorn, right? It is pleasantly long, looks well even without a wearie, but is a little bit ordinary for my taste. 😉
Linda’s View:
I will confess right away that grey with yellow is not my cup of tea as far as my favorite colour combinations go, especially the yellow… well… the hoodie is nicely sewn, and as Lenka mentions, it is thin and the material is very elastic. This is an advantage because of multiple reasons – a) you can hardly go wrong when choosing the right size, b) you will not have a problem wearing it in the next babywearing season when the wearie gets bigger. The draped ends of sleeves are a very interesting detail that looks more elegant than a ˈthumb holeˈ a lot of hoodies and jackets have.
I am a bit thin-skinned about the neck protection so its absence bothers me quite a lot. For me, the hood is a little consolation – I like its design and the fact that its inner side is light grey which looks very fresh. Actually, the only problem I have with the hoodie is the yellow colour.
If I summarize it – very well-sewn hoodie made of high-quality materials; you certainly cannot go wrong with it and could wear it even after your babywearing years are over (or in the period between the wearies 😉 ).
Babywearing soft-shell jacket
Size: 38
Lenka’s View:
We had to think really hard at first how to name the colour of this jacket as we were not satisfied with the manufacturer’s expression ˈlake blueˈ:D. Even my husband joined the discussion and used modern technology (an application for colour recognition) and finally we decided that the colour is ˈtealˈ.
Anyway, the colour is beautiful and if I did not already have a winter babywearing jacket, I would definitely consider buying this one! It is very well-sewn, from the winter soft-shell (I think it is called ˈwinterˈ soft-shell because its inner side is lined with fleece), and can easily endure temperatures around 10 degrees without another layer. Same as the hoodie, it also looks great without a wearie. It fits true to size in my opinion, and is pleasantly long; but on the other hand, the sleeves were not too long for me as I expected thanks to the stretchy cuffs made of cotton jersey.
The design of the insert is ingenious – simple but functional! It is possible to adjust it with elastic cords in several levels, according to the size/age/weight and position of the wearie, as well as the lower hem of the whole jacket. I loved the possibility to ˈspreadˈ the hood of the insert, i.e. to make a flat ˈbibˈ out of it – this is something that kind of bothers me on my own babywearing jacket (ˈfirst goes the hood, then the babyˈ – if you know what I mean). All thumbs up for the detachable hood of the wearer; as far as the wearing on the back goes I have the same comments as concerning the hoodie – however, there is logically no problem in the elasticity of the material with soft-shell, here it is a problem of hands and training (mine :D).
And one tiny thing (however, sometimes this can make life a lot harder) – the pockets of the jacket cannot be fastened. I am used to carry random stuff in my pockets, from keys to credit cards, so I would be very happy if the pockets had zippers, for example. Anyway, the main reason that prevents me from putting this jacket in my imaginary shopping cart, is the absence of the neck protection which really comes to use during winter.
Linda’s View:
Theˈlake jacket’sˈ colour is blue-green in my opinion, I would say more green than blue. 🙂 I think it is perfectly cut for us with a pear or sand-clock shaped figure and looks really good without a wearie. I also have to commend Loktu She on having the courage to use such a colour, because the most popular one has always been and will be the boring black. Another thing I find great on this jacket are the stretchy jersey cuffs that are very pleasant for the wearer as they provide a little bit more of warmth.
The insert is designed very cleverly, as Lenka mentioned above; it is possible to adjust it easily for any current size of the baby. The jacket in size 38 without a wearie was a little bit tight in shoulders and armpits for me, therefore I would say that the sizes are maybe a little bit smaller than usual (normally, I have no problem wearing size 36).
As I mentioned above about the hoodie, the absence of the neck protection is a problem for me. However, I know there are a lot of mums that do not care about it and on the contrary, do not like such ˈthingiesˈ under their necks. If you do not have this ˈneck obsessionˈ as I have, I recommend this jacket by hundred per cent – it is beautiful and of a great quality.
Babywearing merino sweater
Size: S
Lenka’s View:
For this one, Loktu She deserves standing ovation! If I had an autumn or winter baby (or at least, if I had known about this wonderful sweater a year ago), it would be mine! It is wonderfully warm, soft and cuddly and does not bite at all – not even me, which is kind of a little miracle because my skin feels the sheep basically in everything that barely contains merino! Moreover, its design is totally ingenious – one sweater, one hole; however, it is possible to wear both in front and on the back (well, you cannot use it for tandem wearing, obviously). The collar/turtleneck is a wonderful idea and looks very elegant in both of its variations.
The sweater is overall very elastic – the S size was OK for me and Emilka and we even had quite some space to grow (both of us :D). In my opinion, the only problem is how to put it on with a baby on your back – this really requires help of a third person (or maybe, if you are a yoga instructor with limbs of rubber, you could probably do it on your own). Otherwise, it is just terrific and it will be my biggest Christmas wish for a second baby!
Linda’s View:
I have always wanted to try this sweater. You can have all the fleece jumpers and soft-shell jackets and other modern materials in the world, but a sweater is a sweater and merino is merino, what more can I say? In case you are more frozen than Elsa during the winter, there is nothing better than the good old wool.
This sweater is beautiful and cuddly and definitely causes addiction – you will not want to put it off! It is very stretchy, as Lenka mentioned; even L-sized mums from our local babywearing group who tried it had no problem fitting in it even with a toddler. This is a big advantage if you want to wear your babywearing clothes more than one winter.
Moreover, you can wear this sweater even during pregnancy – you just fasten the pocket for the baby with a button and voila – you have a pregnancy sweater! And the greatest thing of all! It has a turtleneck! The best ˈneck protectorˈ ever!
Yup, the sweater is not cheap, I know, but this one is a total must-have!
And no, it does not bite at all, ˈunfortunatelyˈ. 😀 😀 😀
