Silver Spun Paige Review

Let’s start with what it is…
Silver Spun Paige is a wrap woven with real, actual silver.  True Story.  A product of the Silver Lining Sling Company, the tester we had here had a SilverSpun weft which is 87% NC combed cotton, 11% Pure Silver, and 2% polyester and a mercerized cotton warp.  The Silver yarn is by The Feel Good Yarn Company.

But what is it REALLY…

1. Stunning.  Beautiful, awe-inspiring, jaw-droppingly gorgeous, spell-bindingly breathtaking.  Yeah, it’s likely the prettiest machine woven wrap we have ever encountered.  When you put it on you feel like Disney’s Cinderella touched by the Fairy Godmother’s magical wand, sparkling from head to toe, so drenched in magical iridescence that you won’t think twice about sitting in a pumpkin pulled by four talking mice.

If either you or your children are too young for the above reference, let me try again… it’s like you’re one of those genteel Southern tweeny vampires either in the sun or bleeding to death, I forget which one. You get it.  THE SHIMMER — it’s to die for!

Perhaps our Librarian, Heather Pencil, put it best, “The standard for ‘luster’ is going to be reset based on this wrap.  It shines indoors.”

You feel supermodelesque…

Until you realize that you’re really just at Costco.

Or are on a hike with an uncooperative toddler.

2, It is cool.  And y’all… we’re writing this from Central Texas, where it is warm.  Really warm.  So warm that when it’s 85 degrees for the day, we call that brisk.  I was incredibly impressed by how well this wrap BREATHES.  I’m told by people who know more than I do that the silver actually behaves like a cooler wool and facilitates that airiness.  How airy?  Uhm… lets just say that I don’t think my deodorant does this well in the Texas heat.  I wore this wrap for my baby’s first birthday… a backyard BBQ (I know, very Texas of us) and I was able to wear her for HOURS… in 90+ degree heat… without feeling overly warm or sweaty (again, better than deodorant).

3. It wraps well.  Here is where preference will play a roll. One of our testers would have liked it if it were more grippy, others loved the glide.  Second passes almost pass themselves.  There is no doubt though, it wraps well.  In hand it feels drapey. And it’s not just soft, but tiny baby bunny soft, especially for a relatively new wrap.  I was expecting it to be itchy (it is made of metal, y’all), but no.  One of our VBEs used the word, “spongey.” #nailedit

4. It washes well.  Yes, it’s white.  Don’t fear the white wrap!!

A little birdie told me that they’re working on other colors for the fall, but for now… it’s white.  Actually, because LOTS of highly caffeinated Mamas tried it… the inevitable did happened… we spilt coffee on it.  Guess what?  Washed right out.  One of the concerns I heard over and over was that people were afraid of ruining it.  Well, when we test wraps, we TEST them and use them… in the kitchen, backyard, parking lot, hiking trail, babywearing meeting, you name it.  Don’t fear the SilverSpun!  This is for sure an everyday wrap!

5. It’s a wrap with a great story and a print that doesn’t scream “BUTTERFLIES!”  Sonia shared the beautiful story behind this wrap on Facebook recently, and I was touched that this would be a wrap of remembrance.  There are lots of “rainbow babies” in our group (mine included) and to know that this special design was commemorating their story, the pattern took on so much more meaning.  The story is so great that I’ve included it after the conclusion of this post (below).

6.  It “rides” well.  To us, there needs to be some stretch for a wrap to work correctly.  It has to have that give and take and SilverSpun Paige has incredible bounce.  Nap-strikers, you are no match for the swaying bouncy goodness of SilverSpun Paige.  Let the record reflect, you have been warned.

7.  It tastes like metal.  Yep, someone in our group went there.  We are nothing if not thorough.

Let’s talk about what it is not, now…

1.  It is not a beast.  It won’t hold your 30lb toddler weightlessly for four hours while having you feel like you’ve gotten a shoulder rub.  It doesn’t have that super dense weave.  You won’t have to send it traveling to break it in, it won’t come with a newborn warning, it won’t be the marshmallow in your stash shot.   Some people like super thick wraps…. this isn’t it.

2. It’s not “obedient,” yet.  And here is where I will pause and brag on Sonia, who was our contact at Silver Lining Slings.  Some people become very protective of their ideas, but when I explained that perhaps it was too slippery and required too much extra tightening that could lead to achey spots, she was quick to appreciate my feedback.
Here is her response:  “One of the factors that will be different during our release is that the warp yarn will not be mercerized. Mercerized yarn can have the tendency to give a wrap more glide and less grip. With a 100% mercerized wrap you get a very shimmery, satiny, glidy wrap. But I suspect that the cotton warp we chose will help in rectifying that situation.”
Uhm… Wow!  Not only is she appreciative our input, but she’s fixing the problem!!  Now if only we could convince her to run for office!

3. It’s not going to get you sideways with Homeland Security.  We went through a metal detector with it.  No beeping.

Overall, we’re holding our breath for the Silver Lining Slings release (hint hint — reportedly in the second or third week of June) and hoping that at LOTS of SilverSpun Paiges will come live in Texas again.

Want to hear some unfiltered thoughts… (on this wrap, yo).  Here they are:

——-

Sonia explains the story behind the Paige Butterflies:  “Back in 2011, one of my best friends and I found out that we were pregnant. Our due dates were within a day or two of each other. My husband and I had been trying to get pregnant for over a year following our first miscarriage, so we were thrilled. I went on to miscarry at 10 weeks and had a D&C. My friend Colleen, continued on with her pregnancy, but at 40 weeks she was told the horrible news that her daughter would be born sleeping. It was all very tragic and quite possibly the worst year of my life. My husband and I attended the baby’s funeral on a beautiful hillside on a fall day in Virginia. The location was very picturesque. As Colleen and her husband sat through the service, a huge monarch butterfly fluttered its way into the tent and hovered around the family. I later told her that butterflies were the international symbol for miscarriage and stillbirth awareness. It was such a beautiful and memorable moment. Although the events that took place in 2011 were tragic and the sadness at times seemed insurmountable, it brought Colleen and I closer. In 2012, we both found out that we were pregnant with our rainbow babies…her daughter, Noelle Joy, was born on 12/12/12/ at 12:12 pm after 12 hours of labor. They were plastered all over the news! It was epic. My daughter, Jada Isabelle, was born on 2/13/13 after 2 miscarriages and almost 3 years of trying. When we decided to start SLS, I wanted our first design to commemorate that time in our lives and I wanted it to pay tribute to all the little babies who were too beautiful for Earth. Our Paige design was named after ‘Melody Paige,’ Colleen’s daughter who was born sleeping. When we started the design process, I didn’t want literal butterflies. So it ended up being a lace inspired pattern with some Victorian scrollwork. When you open the fabric you say ‘Oh, butterflies!’ However, when wrapped, the pattern just flows with elegant and feminine lines throughout. This is the reason that ‘Paige’ is so special for us.”