Linda and I, we are very fond of the Slovakian brand Sestrice, whether it comes to their wraps or their marvelous carriers (we already published a review of one of their wraps – Slncia Lollipop and also a very excited article about their Carrier and Carrier Plus wrap conversions). This time, it was not only one wrap, not only one carrier – but the whole “Sestricebox” with 5 wraps and 2 carriers! Also, it was a lucky coincidence that my friend lent me another Sestrice wrap around the time of the Sestricebox testing, therefore – hold on tight! – here you have a review of 6 wraps (!) and a retest of Carrier Plus.
Right in the beginning, I must applaud to Sestrice just for the choice of testers in their test-box – from a newborn wrap to a toddler piece; different types of weave, different blends and designs and both sizes of the carrier they offer! This is how an attractive test packet should look like – something from everything and something for everyone. Bravo three times and thank you a hundred times for this opportunity!
Poppy Powder Pink
Composition: 100 % combed cotton
Weight: 240 g/m²pre-wash declared by the manufacturer, 243 g/m² post-wash counted by us
Size: long 6 (508 cm, measured by us)
Front wrap cross carry with a shoulder flip
I already knew that Sestrice know how to weave a thin all-cotton wrap after the testing of their Slncia Lollipop. Moreover, the poppy heads and the birdies…! The subtle powder pink just invites you to tie a newborn in it (while it is a pitty a little bit that it makes the wrap basically impossible to photograph in its real colours). The wrap is just perfect for beginners – it is thin, cooperates with every move, feels slightly elastic. Although it is not very grippy and does not hold in one knot (well, most Sestrice wraps I have held in my hands so far were a bit too glidy for my taste), it held in the carry quite fine even with my 12kg 2-years-old little lady. Once before, I wrote that I feel a kind of „Vata-vibe“ in Sestrice wraps; i.e. that even a very thin „wash cloth“ is surprisingly supportive and pleasant on shoulders with a heavier child. However, I must admit that even I and my shoulders of steel have limits and that it is not pleasant for me to wear my toddler in newborn wraps anymore. 😉
Forest Oak
Composition: 100 % combed cotton
Weight: 260 g/m²pre-wash declared by the manufacturer, 277 g/m² post-wash counted by us
Size: 5
Charlie’s cross carry
Forest is, same as Poppy, one of the newest designs from Sestrice – and yes, I love it, too! The colour of milk chocolate is not really my style but I am sure it would fit the „autumn types“ perfectly. It feels thin in your hands (well, it IS a thin wrap in fact) but it surprises you on the shoulders – thanks to the double weft (same as in case of Loktu She Bird Garden Amber we reviewed some time ago) it is quite fluffy and more comfortable even with a heavier child than Poppy with the atlas weave. And good news for me – it is a bit more grippy than Poppy and the carry held in its place much better. Same as Poppy, it is also suitable for beginners in my opinion – to be honest, if I wanted a newborn wrap for a potential second child I would rather choose the forest friends than the poppy heads. As far as the 12-kg-toddler-wearing goes, I was not twice as happy and felt the weight on my shoulders quite substantially.
Folk Sandberg
Composition: 100 % combed cotton
Weight: 295 g/m² pre-wash declared by the manufacturer, 304 g/m² post-wash counted by us
Size: long 6 (508 cm measured by us)
Rucksack carry with date night finish
Another cotton wrap, but this time a well-fed toddler piece! While the soft beige colour is not my cup of tea again, I love the iconic Folk pattern (yup, I still love it with all my wrap heart!) which totally makes up for the colour. Truly, it is quite strange; the wraps so similar „on the paper“ – the weight is not that much different, the weave is the same (airy triweave), both are 100% cotton… But Sandberg has something that Forest lacks. Whether the feeling of „well, this one really IS supportive“ comes after the 300, I cannot really tell but it is probable. Sandberg felt completely different on my shoulders and had no problem supporting my 12 kg of love. It also felt the most grippy from the three cotton Sestrice wraps tested (hurray!), it slided adequately, held in the carry in one knot only and did not sag even in a one-layer carry much. The only negative for me is probably the quite unpractical light colour.
Folk Living Coral
Composition: 56 % total easy care merino, 44 % combed cotton
Weight: 300g/m² pre-wash declared by the manufacturer (I somehow forgot to measure this one 😉 )
Size: 6
Back wrap cross carry with a chest belt
Is there anybody who has not heard about „living coral“ so far? I doubt that – but in case you are one of this rear species: living coral was named „The Colour of the Year 2019“ by the Pantone company and probably every wrap manufacturer released a piece in this colourway this year. 😀 And yeah, the coral is really beautiful! Well, it is still orange which is problably my least favourite colour but this shade convinced me that not every orange must be hideous. And combined with the pattern… yeah, this one could live with us permanently, too. 😉
Merino? Like… really? And THAT MUCH merino? I do not understand! Well, I do actually understand because I already held this type of merino in my hands before (for example, the beautiful blue Moisha Filigrán Frozen); if all the types of merino were this pleasant and non-biting, I would probably not want to wear anything else! I was already aware of the fact that Sestrice know their way with merino, too, for quite some time – well, for quite a long time, actually (almost a year and a half ago – is it even possible that my child is already that old? 😀 ), but I remember my encounter with the wonderful Folk Kilimanjaro quite well – it was a very pleasant and very supportive piece so I was very excited about testing its younger sibling. And it did not disappointed me at all – it was a pleasure to work with, it is not too thick for its weight and it felt slightly elastic in the carry. The weight of my toddler was an easy job for it, although it is one of those a bit more slippery pieces than I usually like – but I am more than willing to forgive this property when it comes to merino that does not bite. 😉
Herbs Iceberg
Composition: 50 % combed cotton, 28 % organic cotton GOTS, 22 % Tencel
Weight: 280 g/m² pre-wash declared by the manufacturer, 294 g/m² post-wash counted by us
Size: long 6 (501 cm measured by us)
Christina’s ruckless back carry
Tencel… in case there is a lot of it in a wrap, the wrap feels cool on skin, it is slippery, „flat“ and not much elastic (although it also depends on the type of weave, of course); simply said – not the kind I would personally fancy. 22 % is quite fine in my opinion – enough to give the wrap all the thermoregulatory properties that it should have when containing Tencel, while it is not that much of a „heavy curtain“ if the percentage of Tencel was, for example, double. Iceberg still is, one can say, „pleasantly thin“ – slippery – yes, „flat“ – kind of, but surprise, surprise, it felt elastic in the carry just enough! This was maybe the main reason why I had a really good time wearing it; maybe I will begin to like some of the faces of Tencel in the future. 😉 As to its looks, it is a sort of unpractically beautiful/beautifully unpractical. I like the Herbs pattern, too (a little bit less than Folk, though) and the grey-silver combined with white is something I could simply imagine on an elegant bride!
Roosters Deep Ocean
Composition: 62 % Tencel, 38 % cotton (I did not write down the number and this is what remained in my memory – so I only hope it is right 😀 )
Weight: 342 g/m² (counted by us)
Size: 7 (size 6 declared by the manufacturer, but 526 cm is size 7 in my opinion 😉 )
Back wrap cross carry with a chest belt, Tibetian knotless finish
The last wrap is not from the test box, but a friend lent it to me to break it in is for her and her baby. Whoever held this custom wrap in their hands probably already knows – not that much of a pleasure! 😀 I got the wrap once washed and ironed, not tied even once, and it was as stiff as some of the „jeans-like“ high-weight Lulunas! I must admit I did not try any wrap with that much of Tencel in such a high weight before and it was a bit of a shock for me. I tried to break it in quite intensely – ironing, braiding, ironing, sleeping on it, ironing all over and all over; I even convinced a friend to try to tame it, too, but even after that I did not feel that the wrap was softer or more pliable. Just a piece of heavy, thick, slippery curtain; cooling and thermoregulatory – maybe, but I could not appreciate that at the time (we had it mostly over the winter and we had the photoshoot just a few days before it went back to its owner). The bigger my surprise was when the owner told me, after the Roosters came back home, that it is a completely different wrap than before and that we did plenty of work! Yeah, the only problem probably was that I could not really compare its „before and after“. Bottom line, the ones who like Tencel will love this one – it posesses all the properties of this blend concentrated.
But regarding the looks I can only praise the wrap! Yes, again my favourite folk motives in modern and somewhat non-folklore style; the blue-green-peacock colour from my favourite palette combined with the elegant, slightly shiny silver! Aaaah!
Roosters Steel Blue Carrier PLUS
We already tested the bigger size of the Sestrice Carrier – the Carrier PLUS, recommended from 1 to 3-4 years of age. Last time, only Linda and Helenka tested it; Emilka was not big enough for it at that time (in fact, not really – we tried it just for a few photos and it was quite fine) – so we wanted to give it a proper try this time (and also make up for the Carrier PLUS photoshoot that did not go very well the last time 😉 ).
Well, you can probably guess that the review of the exactly same carrier will be exactly the same. 😉 I will not beat around the bush – it is great, wonderful, terrific; I am almost touched how perfect this carrier is! The hard waist belt, with the doubled strap, my favourite buckle with the „button“ lock; banana shaped shoulder straps with the ingenious chest buckle on „rails“ fastened by a magnet; plastic loops on the ends of the straps that enable better manipulation with the baby on; colourful straps that match the wrap; detachable hood; regulation of the width of the back panel by straps. The only thing that I did not like that much (same as the last time) are the shoulder strap protectors that are too loose and tend to travel up and down. But considering my kid has much more interesting things to do while being worn (like waving her hands around, pulling my hair and grabbing everything reachable around) than to calmly dribble on the carrier, I made my peace with this, too.
Regarding the recommended age range, I am quite OK with it, although it is very approximate – last autumn, the 16-months-old Emilka measured about 74 cm which is the size some bigger babies can reach even in 9 months. Now, the 2-years-old Emilka measures approximately 85 cm and she still had plenty of space to grow (no, the back pannel is not short but as I wrote above, she is in the „wave the arms and legs around constantly“ phase and it was impossible to place her in the carrier so she had the upper hem of the back panel high enough at that exact moment 😀 ).
Hereby we want to thank Sestrice for the opportunity to test their wonderful Sestricebox and Erika for the Roosters! 😉
