2016 new Quad blend wraps and a story about the special people who support Joy and Joe

Blending textiles yarns together has always been hailed as a creative process where the unique properties of each yarn are combined to create something new, something beautifully different. This was something that I initially dreaded after our very first woolly wrap (the maxi-roses) about 3 years ago, resulted in a woolly wrap that had such a high concentration of wool.

I knew that weaving our woven wraps with cotton was a convenient option so to speak, even though wrap manufacturing isn't as glamorous as it may look from the outside. You spend hours and hours and often sleepless nights planning, strategising and communicating with suppliers etc. I also understood that cotton wraps are very easy care and this is exactly what we want for our customers. However, with my inborn inquisitive, playful nature, I just never stop dreaming and imagining how the mix of different blends will look and feel when wrapped. Like how about us mixing silk plus linen plus merino plus fine Egyptian cotton!

We did this last year with our heritage collection and then this year with the limited edition anniversary slings. Well, I often always stopped those thoughts with these worries, where in the world are we going to be able to source for  exotic yarns from our small Sutton village in St Helens?. These exotic yarns were expensive, actually very expensive and I was skeptical about ordering from suppliers of animal yarns who were unable to trace or explain in details, the processes involved in their yarn production.
Ethical manufacturing is very important to how we work, not just because we are a family centered business with our own children's names behind this brand but because we believe that we have a responsibility to our customers, our worldwide Joy and Joe families,  to uphold the values of ethical British manufacturing.  We hardly ever shout aloud about our ethical ethos because after-all, this should be expected of reputable baby product brands especially when your products is a cradle for comforting and carrying precious little children.
​Our weavers and suppliers are definitely used to my myriads of questions and Mayor with his genius mind and expertise in bio-research is always on hand to assist in breaking down technical bits of information needed to make the right choice when selecting suppliers to work with or yarns with the best eco-sustainability properties.
Well, you will notice that majority of our slings are 100% cotton or a mix of mako and combed cotton. All are sustainably sourced and organic from farm to fabric. 

​For a few months , we have been ruminating  about weaving exclusive wraps for our active admins and ambassadors  as our little way of saying 'thank you' to them for their loyal support and unwavering love for the Joy and Joe brand and community. Let's face it, considering that we are a family owned, small business, if we were to quantify and reward the value of the dedication and time that they commit to their roles in monetary terms, I'm sure that we will need to rob a bank to do so!
Hence, we decided to do something special in our little way. We are growing, who knows, in the future, we might be able to send each of our volunteers a Lamborghini and rolex wrist watches. Can you see, I'm such a dreamer lolz. Well, we are supposed to be talking wraps, so the cost of the yarns was scary but we knew we still had to do this, we didn't want to weave a regular wrap for our admins and ambassadors. We wanted to weave a really spectacular wrap and this marked the birth of our 2016 Quad blends aka artisan collection.
It is often reported by textile experts that blending textiles can significantly improve important properties like their durability and performance. Cotton on its own being a plant yarn can be further reinforced structurally by the addition of yarns like linen , silk etc. Each yarn has its own unique characteristic and blending them together can yield a fabric that combines all the unique properties of each yarn type. 

​Our quad blends are a combination of four different yarns in varying percentages and after weaving, we were immediately reminded of our  powerful Olivia luxe and original weave SMP. It's like a pot of soup, where you add so many ingredients, the result can be AMAZINGLY amazing! So we decided to send our Quads to our Yorkshire based textile experts who then further softened them with steam. You can imagine the reaction of ours two tailors when they handled these Quads. They were like, ''Wowwwww, this feels like an ancient tapestry, really special and so heavy''!! Yes, they are heavy but don't run off! They have so much elasticity from their high silk warp and tumbled finishing.  

​The GSM is approximately 370g/m2 and above but don't let the high GSM figures scare you, the finishing process where the quads were tumbled in steam has added lots of bounce and a stretchiness to the handle to the wearing properties. However, this particular weaving run is not recommended for new or inexperienced wrappers. We have many other wraps on our website that are more suitable for new wrappers.  This artisan collection is going to be a part of our occasional special collections/ releases.

With silk, you get the added advantage of its luxurious kitten belly softness and the hypollergic advantage of its protein structure.
With linen, you get the added advantage of its air permeability
With merino wool, you get the added advantage of its insulating, temperature-regulating, odour-resistant, breathable and elastic qualities
With the added Egyptian cotton, you get the added advantage of its durability  
With the bamboo, you get the advantage of its soft and themo-control ability

So considering that the silk and linen takes a huge percentage (70%) of each quad wrap structure, this Quad is loaded with textile goodness and you get all the added benefits of each yarns creating a completely new blended wrap fabric that wraps in a way you've never experienced before. For example, with one knot, your wrap is already secure, it won't budge one inch when wrapped! The passes  are so obedient that they will stay in place so our Quads are very supportive.
As with anything  special with pros , there are also cons, and the first is that this is a heavy duty wrap and so this is not recommended or suitable for inexperienced wrappers. So this is not for everyone. The silk and linen content is especially high and this comes from the warp so this isn't an easy care wrap, It is a hand wash only wrap. We won't even advise you to even machine wash with the machine's hand washing setting. Hand wash, as in proper traditional hand washing and that is if you must wash your quad anyway. To care for your Quad, simply spot clean if your wrap is a little stained so that you can simply concentrate on the area that needs to be cleaned and if it badly stained , to wash the entire wrap, please ensure that you use the appropriate detergent suitable for silk or silk blends. More details will be added to our wrap care section
This is the perfect wrap for a mum who needs a proper workhorse for a really chunky toddler or even for carrying your big kids (wink wink) You need to experience the floppy hand-woven texture of our Quads to understand what we're talking about here! Did you watch Ambassador Ayesha's video? Its is very enlightening and fun. Go check it out, her live video is on the Joy and Joe chatter page

Here's  the technical details in summary
Purple SMP: Warp: Undyed natural yarn colour (light gold) Weft: Purple
Original SMP weave, 35% Mulberry silk, 25% Irish linen, 10% Egyptian cotton, 30% ethically sourced cashmere. GSM: 395 g/m2
One Ring sling: £245  One Snood: £65

Bright red SMP : Admin Exclusive : Warp: Undyed natural yarn colour (light gold) Weft: RedOriginal SMP weave, Bright red and light gold. 35% Mulberry silk, 35% Irish linen, 25% Egyptian cotton, 5% bamboo GSM: 370 g/m2 (One available)

Turquoise SMP : Ambassador Exclusive : Warp: Undyed natural yarn colour (light gold) Weft: Torquoise. Original SMP weave, Turquoise and light gold. 35% Mulberry silk, 35% Irish linen, 25% Egyptian cotton, 5% bamboo GSM: 370 g/m2 (No wraps available but we have two ring slings left and they will be made available for anyone to order when they are listed on our website)
Ring sling: £245 
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Black Maxi-roses: Original SMP weave, Warp: Undyed natural yarn colour (light gold) Black and light gold. 35% Mulberry silk, 45% Irish linen, 15% Egyptian cotton, 5% bamboo GSM: 370 g/m2 Medium: £265 (Only two wraps available now but we will confirm the final numbers from our tailors before they are listed on our website)

Pink Maxi-roses: Original SMP weave, Warp: Undyed natural yarn colour (light gold) Pink and light gold. 35% Mulberry silk, 45% Irish linen, 15% Egyptian cotton, 5% bamboo GSM: 370 g/m2
Medium: £265 (Only two wraps available now but we will confirm the final numbers from our tailors before they are listed on our website)

Pumpkin orange Maxi-roses: Original SMP weave, orange and light gold. 35% Mulberry silk, 45% Irish linen, 15% Egyptian cotton, 5% bamboo GSM: 370 g/m2 (unconfirmed quantity as of today)

Black SMP: Original SMP weave, Black and light gold. 35% Mulberry silk, 35% Irish linen, 25% Egyptian cotton, 5% bamboo GSM: 370 g/m2 (Only two wraps now available but we will confirm the final numbers from our tailors before they are listed on our website)
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Green SMP: Original SMP weave, Warp: Undyed natural yarn colour (light gold) Green and light gold. 35% Mulberry silk, 35% Irish linen, 25% Egyptian cotton, 5% bamboo GSM: 370 g/m2
Large: £285

Please note that as a proper double layered weave, any side of this Quad wrap is wearable, so no odd sides
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Price summary:RS| £245, M| £265, L|£285, XL|£295, £XXL| £305

By the way, we have no names for our Quads as yet. Did I hear you say 'beast'? No, these Quads will surprise you,  tame your wrapping muscles and delight you for many years because you can pass them on to your offsprings and then to the next generation to generation. Our original weave SMP that were woven more than 3 years ago still look as good as new. Are you in doubt? Why not pop over to the Joy and Joe chatter page and ask any of our parents who have either owned or worn any before. The slings in our artisan collection are strong and ready to stand the test of time!
Our artisan collection will be listed on our website on the 27th October, 2017 (18.00 GMT)
 
Thank you and Enjoy xx
​Bisi O