We introduced Pabelle Slings and their elegant Makia Ivory last autumn. Meanwhile, we had the opportunity to try several other Pabelle wraps – two all-cotton pieces, the violet Makia Calluna and the Christmas limited edition Kisses Under the Mistletoe, and another Christmas beauty, Eshweria Flaming Star with lurex, or the blue-black llamas Llama Wakatobi with tussah. None of the wraps disappointed us, on the contrary, they exceeded our expectations quite substantially – mainly the all-cotton ones (one of the factors being also their almost unbelievably low price) surprised and pleased us very much. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves; first, we have a review of these three blended pieces for you!

Llama Biscotti

Composition: 54 % cotton, 41 % tussah, 5 % linen

Weight: 369 g/m² (counted by us in a broken-in wrap)

Size: 5

Rear rebozo reinforced rucksack carry

When I first saw the llamas, my knees went weak and I instantly began to long for them with all my heart. Then, these cream-beige ones were released, the wonderfully hairy cuties with tussah nubs and my breath was taken away! This is just a piece of splendor! Judge for yourselves… 🙂

But then the “fluffy” mail came… Uhm, fluffy… I could have been warned by the manufacturer not stating the weight but, on the other hand, quite cautiously and mysteriously saying that the wrap “needs a little breaking-in”. What an euphemism; these hairy ladies stood in the corner without moving an inch, in a perfect military posture, by themselves when they were brand new and unwashed. I counted the postwash weight almost 400 g/m² and was quite anxious about tying this stiff scrapper for the first, second, third time… But just as if I was waving a magic wand above the wrap, with every tying it became softer and softer and less and less scratchy… I thought I made it quite wearable after a week or so but I had no idea what a breaking-in layover at our friend Tina’s would do! Tina is a super-mom who wears her twin boys in tandem and sometimes even her 20kg 6-year-old! She is simply a breaking-in magician (have you ever heard of the rollin-pin breaking-in technique? :D) – and the llamas came home in a totally-cuddly-sweetheart-state.

Of course, they will never be a buttery-soft, velvet-smooth chewing gum but – dear toddler-wearing mammas (and papas) – let me introduce the ultimate, perfect “toddler prison”, i.e. a piece for wearing big kids par excellence. This is one of those wraps even the wildest imp cannot escape! I must repeat it, this is just THE perfect toddler wrap! You obviously need to pull a bit harder when tying it; its grip is almost unbelievable (just as a proper tussah scrapper should have 😀 ) but thanks to the smooth cotton side it slides quite adequately in the end – well, you should not try to put the lighter side over the lighter one as I tried for the photoshoot (because “showing both sides of the wrap in a single carry”, duh 😀 ) but I am sure that in any at least a bit experienced pair of hands, it is no problem to tie and tighten it. Once you tie the carry, it just stays put for hours and as to the weight of the wearie it is able to support – well, just as much you can hold, there is no upper limit for these llamas.

All in all, this is a total MUST-HAVE (or at least a must-try) for everyone wearing a child of 10kg and more!

Blur Sorbet

Composition: 73 % cotton, 23 % tussah

Weight: 290 g/m2

Size: 5

Kangaroo carry

I already mentioned Blur in the previous Pabelle article – this brand is quite conservative when it comes to its designs and maybe the only bolder step out of their comfort zone are the widely popular llamas. And then, there is Blur. A wrap with blurry splotches and triangles – some see a map of Australia, some even a silhouette of a bison. I see a splotch. Linda and I gave it a (maybe a bit undeserved) nickname – “gnarl”. We first had the opportunity to try it thanks to our friend who bought a Pabelle mystery box – needless to say she was hoping for llamas… Well, and she got, just as other unfortunate wearers, this gnarl…

In fact, it is not that ugly when you look at it a bit closely – the green with the yellow and blue nubs is very cute and someone who likes such colourway can easily fall in love with Blur.

The properties of this wrap, that is a whole other story. It is the magic of tussah that, if broken-in, can support much more than it appears at the first sight. Blur Sorbet is a thin wrap not only at the first sight, but also at the second and third one (and at the tenth touch, too 😀 ) and one would not guess even the 290 g/m² weight. But I was happier with it carrying my 10kg toddler than with many substantially thicker cotton pieces (just to explain, the photos were taken last summer, during our first encounter, but we had the opportunity to try the wrap again during this winter). The tying and tightening is easy and I dare say it could be a perfect beginner wrap. Same as the biscuit llamas, it holds in the carry as if it was glued together – again, it is the tussah magic (and yes, it is sooo grippy, just as I like it). And as I already said, it is much more supportive than it looks “on the paper”.

Makia Porto

Composition: 52 % cotton, 48 % merino

Weight: cca 300 g/m² according to the manufacturer, 283 g/m² counted by us

Size: 6

Back wrap cross carry, Tibetian knotless finish

Porto is the wine-red variant of its pale sister, Makia Ivory – the same composition, same weight, and well, obviously the same properties, i.e. it is a very pleasant, not-biting (!!!) woollie, medium thick, nicely pliable, a bit too slippery for my taste but very cooperative while tying and wearing – it holds in the carry without problems, feels a bit elastic on your shoulders and makes you feel warm during the cold months. The only difference is that my child grew bigger and heavier since last autumn – Porto passed with flying colours, same as Ivory, and I fell in love with it maybe even more because of its wonderful colours – the deep wine red in combination with dark grey just compliments our skin (and my hair 😉 ).

In the end, I want to mention one property of the Pabelle wraps – they are wide, usually exceeding 70 cm in this dimension which is something every toddler-wearing parent can appreciate.

Again and again, I was affirmed that Pabelle should have much more attention in the Czech Republic than it has – they really know how to make a wrap, not only the basic cotton ones but they also know how to conjure great blended pieces. And moreover, the llamas…! 😀