Cotton Cloud: Basanti

We were lucky to participate in the Cotton Cloud European Tester Journey this summer. Even though I have had quite some handwoven wraps passing by, Cotton Cloud was yet new to me and only familiar through their sister brand for machine woven wraps, Cotton Colors (read my tester review of Agni Blush here). 

Cotton Cloud is a Russian brand. The tester that traveled to us was a 4.5m wrap from a warp named Basanti. This warp has an amazing colorway from shades of purple and lilac to light and darker blue, spiced up with threads in lemon like yellow. The tester has a black weft which together with crackle weave really brings the colors of the warp alive. Just like with the previous handwoven tester we had (my review of Paradisaea's The Love That Casts Out Fear is available here), this was another positive experience with black color since it normally is a huge turn-off for me. Also, usually I run away from #teamblue wraps but the mixture of colors in Basanti is simply irresistible and amazingly beautiful.

Basanti is an all-cotton wrap which carries a respectful density of 435gsm. Against all odds it does not feel blankety in a negative sense but probably due to the crackle weave it feels rather airy and textured in hand. I have had an all-cotton handwoven wrap with 500gsm last year and there the plain weave made the wrap feel really dense and blanket-like. Basanti is still rather new after visiting a couple of homes before us and I guess it will become softer in use. Already now Basanti comes across as the kind of lovely fluffy "take-my-sorrows-away" wrap which everyone wants to own to cuddle in during autumn and winter season ahead.



My wrappee is an 18-months-old toddler with some 12,5kg. We wore Basanti in front wrap cross carry with simple and spread out shoulder passes, ruck sack carry and double hammock tied under bum. Basanti has a nice diagonal stretch but is grippy enough to make the wrap job of these basic carries easy despite the thickness of the wrap.

In a fwcc our dear toddler stayed weightlessly in place with just a simple knot on the back and we could have kept cuddling in the wrap for ages! Later we also enjoyed wrap naps in a fwcc with spread shoulder passes while traveling in a train. Spreading the shoulder passes after the carry was already tied was, however, a bit challenging as I could not avoid loose parts on passes. But this was more of an aesthetic problem due to the density of the wrap than anything risking the carry itself.

If you want to have something (for yourself and others) to look at, my recommendation for wraps with this thickness is definitely a carry like ruck sack where you get one pretty and huge knot in front for people to stare at ;) Single layered carry with a toddler felt nice and only thing I found needing more attention was pleating the wrap nicely on shoulders as there is quite a lot of mass to work with. In the ruck sack, again, the toddler enjoyed wrap naps while we walked in the forest and had a successful transfer in bed afterwards.

We also quickly tested a double hammock with Basanti. The middle marker in Cotton Cloud wraps is simple and elegant and it came nicely on its point. However, I needed some helping hands in getting the knot nicely tied under bum. Probably practice makes perfect here and the lovely outcome definitely is worth the little exercise while wrapping! :)

I have more photos of Basanti available on my Instagram account. Please also check the Cotton Cloud business page and their chatter in Facebook to see more of these beautiful handwoven wraps. Thank you to Cotton Cloud for the tester opportunity! :)