Little Fellows 'After Autumn, Must Come...' Handwoven Wrap
The Basics
Little Fellows 'After Autumn Must Come...' LF313 Handwoven
'After Autumn, Must Come...' (piece LF313) is a handwoven wrap by Little Fellows. It's a blend of 50% mercerised cotton and 50% tussah silk and is woven using their Crackle Weave. I work it out to be approximately 289 GSM putting it in the 'thick' category.
The Brand
Little Fellows 'After Autumn Must Come...' LF313 Handwoven
Close up of Little Fellows label
Little Fellows was founded in 2013 by Lisa, a babywearing mum, and was the first UK based hand-weaver of baby wraps. They introduced their jacquard (machine) woven plain weave wraps in 2016 and I understand that some jacquard patterns will be coming soon (I can't wait!).
Little Fellows 'After Autumn Must Come...' LF313 Handwoven
Little Fellows describe their aesthetic as "Finding inspiration in some unlikely places whilst channeling the inner geek" and have produced wraps inspired by things including G.R.R. Martin's 'Game of Thrones' books, Harry Potter and a collection of starships. Now, this is an ethos both my husband and I can get behind!
Your Handwoven Little Fellows wrap comes with its own sturdy cotton bag
I've been 'stalking' Little Fellows online for a while, and saw some of their hand-woven wraps at a babywearing event last year. To say I fell in love was an understatement! Little Fellows weave pieces of astonishing beauty, with a quirky, quintessentially English feel, and a little bit of wizardry thrown in for good measure.
The Looks
Little Fellows 'After Autumn Must Come...' LF313 Handwoven
The 'After Autumn...' wraps feature a warp with an absolutely stunning gradation from bronze, through berry, purple, fuchsia, orange, yellow, moss and teal with contrasting pinstripes throughout. This piece has a variegated tussah silk weft.
Little Fellows 'After Autumn Must Come...' LF313 Handwoven
I can honestly say that the colours are the most beautiful I've ever seen in a wrap. The rich, warm autumnal shades complement each other beautifully and are exactly what I would've chosen for a custom piece had I an ounce of the Little Fellows creative genius.
Little Fellows hand-stamped acorn middle marker
Handwoven Little Fellows wraps have adorable hand stamped acorn middle markers. These little touches, combined with the texture and unique beauty of the fabric, leave you with the impression that you have a little bit of Hobbiton in your hands.
The Wrapping Qualities
Little Fellows 'After Autumn Must Come...' LF313 Handwoven
Now, let's be honest, handwoven wraps of this quality don't come cheap but you only have to consider the amount of (wo)man hours invested in creating them, in addition to the premium fibres used, to understand why they're more expensive than machine woven wraps. It's worth remembering that, for your money, you're getting a very special, unique piece of functional art, the perfect 'legacy' wrap, and something that you can pass on as an heirloom.
Little Fellows 'After Autumn Must Come...' LF313 Handwoven
Buying a handwoven wrap is an investment, but it's sometimes difficult to envisage how a handwoven wrap will feel, particularly if you have limited experience of handwovens. As a general rule, I find that handwovens tend to have more texture than machine wovens. They are often beautifully mouldable with a more relaxed weave structure.
In hand, 'After Autumn...' feels quite weighty, but not at all bulky or dense. It has that wonderful handwoven, rustic, texture but the fibres have a smooth, silky feel as you run your hand over the fabric.
Both mercerised cotton and silk have reputations for being on the slippery side, so I was curious to see if this was evident in the wrapping qualities given that they'd been paired together.
Little Fellows 'After Autumn Must Come...' LF313 Handwoven
After Autumn...' is very easy to wrap with. It's mouldable and floppy and the passes glide into place. I confess, I was almost expecting some slippage as we set out on a walk with our chunky toddler on my back, but I was pleasantly surprised. The texture of the weave creates more than enough grip and the wrap job stayed firmly in place. The knot was also rock solid. 'After Autumn...' was beautifully supportive with a nice bit of cushiness for my weary (one week postpartum) shoulders and I found it extremely comfortable.
Little Fellows 'After Autumn Must Come...' LF313 Handwoven Carrying a Newborn
'After Autumn...' is also completely squish-worthy. Like many people I tend to prefer thinner wraps when wrapping newborns and small babies however, despite it's weight, the wrap doesn't feel at all dense or bulky and was beautifully mouldable for wrapping my newborn in his first week of life.
'After Autumn...' has blunt (non-tapered) tails. It's hand-wash only.
Summary
Little Fellows 'After Autumn Must Come...' LF313 Handwoven
I'm completely in love with this wrap! Having wooed me with its devilishly handsome looks, it sealed the deal by carrying both my toddler and my newborn beautifully. Despite being a combination of mercerised cotton and tussah silk, which both have reputations for being slippery, 'After Autumn...' has plenty of grip by virtue of its weave texture. The result is the best of both worlds; a supportive, mouldable beauty that's easy to wrap with and glides into place, but that stays the course. It feels pretty luxurious too.
Little Fellows in-stock wraps, both handwoven and machine woven, can be found and bought from their website. It's always a good idea to follow them on their Facebook page for news of their projects and releases.
If you're now desperately coveting a piece of Little Fellows handwoven magic, stay tuned for a very exciting 'After Autumn...' scarf giveaway very soon (if only I could enter!)!
Little Fellows 'After Autumn Must Come...' LF313 Handwoven
