Mama By Design

Once again, I enlist the help of my fugly friend to bring you the simple solid Calyx. Almost… This is just the sample piece of the back shell, but you get the idea…

Now, this color combination is Black/ Topaz which is not going to be one of the stock options. You can see we’ve chalked “A” and “B” on the pieces if you look carefully…we’ll be offering A/B: Black/Metal, Metal/Topaz, and Cocoa/Terracotta. There will be a coordinating print lining, but the straps will be fabric A with fabric B as an accent.

In addition, some Calyx Collections will offer this style with a print fabric for fabric B. In those cases the lining and strap accents will be that same fabric. (Yes, it will be backed with a canvas piece for strength)

We will offer custom sizing, and custom fabric combos up to a point…probably something like “choose a canvas for A, a canvas for B, and your lining fabric.” I’m undecided about custom prints for fabric B, the folks at my shop are really nice, but I’m not sure how much of this they can take!

When people choose fabrics to send in for custom carriers, of course they want to know how much fabric they need to buy. What I tell them might be kind of confusing. I say:

“Send 3/4 yard for your lining. If you would like your panel to be the same fabric as your lining, that amount will suffice. For the border, you may send a fat quarter, a quarter yard (if you are shopping online, or your independent quilt store won’t cut fat quarters for you), or I will choose from my ginormous Hoffman 1895 fat quarter stash.”

That’s pretty simple, easy to follow, BUT what if somebody wants a panel that is different than the lining? That’s where it gets confusing.

“Well,” sez me. “If your fabric has a small print, send 1/2 yard or a fat quarter. If your fabric has a large print, send 3/4 yard. I need to cut a 9X9 piece, or an 11×11 piece if you don’t want a border. If you go to a quilt store, you might be able to get away with a smaller piece even if your fabric has a large print, because you’ll be able to see whether the part of the image that you want for your panel can be cut properly.”

Huh? Finally, the perfect fabric came in. This is what it looked like on the website. The mama who ordered this carrier was particularly enamored of the red fish.

Here is a 3/4 yard cut of this very large scale print.

See how the only complete red fish is smack in the center of the cut? We were using this fabric for both panel and lining, the print was large enough that we didn’t use a border. For a smaller print, we could have probably gotten two carriers out of the 3/4 yards, but in this case I barely had enough space to squeeze the lining template into the upper left-hand corner. It wouldn’t fit anywhere else without being sideways. Imagine what it would have looked like as a 1/2 yard cut, the tail would have been cut off!

So, if your fabric has a great big print like this, and especially if you are ordering online where you can’t see the cut, you’ll need to send lots of it. For a panel to come out the way you want, 3/4 yard is the minimum, even if you are also sending a different 3/4 yard piece for the lining. I will send the extra fabric back to you.

Here’s the story of the Calyx strap length: We wanted to make sure that in as many people as possible, the baby’s leg was protected by the strap, not rubbing on webbing. So we created this long padded section with a tongue on the end. We figured that the smallest wearers could fold the tongue back to adjust as much as possible. It turned out to work really well, except for the exceptionally petite who needed the curve in the strap to be higher up on their chest, a problem that could only be solved with a petite sized carrier.

Between the initial testing and the current version, we ran into some problems. First, the way the webbing came out of the waistband was preventing the baby’s bottom from sinking down enough, and was pulling the belt away from the wearer’s body. Second, the actual assembly of the carrier was too difficult to do consistently and quickly. So, we changed the pattern. It was my poor judgement to decide that we didn’t need to shorten the strap padding, that it would still fit all but the most petite, for whom we would make a custom size.

So, we’ve changed the standard sizing. All new Calyx carriers will have a shorter standard strap. In addition, there will be a Petite option and a Large option. The Petite will be very small, the Large will be Larger than what is out now, and in a different way.

Here’s the breakdown:
Petite- from the current version, we will shorten the distance between the body panel and the sternum loops, bringing the lowest loop closer to where the top loop is now. We will also shorten the distance between the loops and the clips. This size will be available by special order. It is recommended for mamas under 5′3″, especially those who are particularly slender.

Large- from the current version, we are increasing the distance between the body panel and the sternum loops, so that there will be some choice about which setting to use. We are also increasing the waistband padding from side to side, so there isn’t so much webbing to rub.

The New Standard Size will be a couple of inches shorter than what is out now, just enough to cinch it down a bit more. It will make up for what we had to do to the waistband attachment. It should now fit those of you who have been not necessarily Petite, but smaller and having fit issues.

Which brings us to the sale! I am marking down all of the Original Size Calyx carriers that I currently have in stock right now. They will stay marked down until they are gone. I want to stress that there is nothing wrong with this size. In fact, mamas around 5′6″ and up, who are chewy but not necessarily fluffy, or who are carrying toddlers and need to wear the Calyx a little lower will probably prefer this strap length because the padded portion of the strap is long enough to ensure that the little one’s leg is covered. This is the size I would want, at 5′6″, about 150 lbs, with a tall skinny 3 yo.

Here’s what we’ve got:

This one is the sample. They’re going to be made of 100% cotton interlock (heavy t-shirt material), which is cool, breathable, and has a bit of stretch. You’ll be able to get a good position for the head, keep airways open, all that good stuff. The skinny loops at the bottom are elastic cord, those will go over the shoulder straps. The larger straps with the buckles on them can be attached around the strap in advance, or hang down, to your preference. It’s much easier to put on than the old ones because you can have it hanging down in back if you want to. If you don’t, it’s pretty similar.

These will be ready soon, I promise.