My name is Karen Dichsen and I am currently a wife to my amazing husband Adam, a stay-at-home mother to our beautiful 7-month-old daughter,  an artist, and a teacher! Adam and I have been carrying our daughter in one of our homemade whole cloth wraps since she was brought home from the hospital in June 2007.

While partaking in childcare for three years before the birth of our daughter, Adam and I often wondered if there were other means to “baby wearing” than the typical Baby Bjorn or backpack carrier. From my experience, both styles of carriers were uncomfortable to carry children from birth to three years.

While pregnant I spent many hours researching the various wraps and slings out on the market and reading review after review about all the different baby wearing options. After attending a class on baby wearing, but my husband and I found that the whole cloth wrap was the most versatile and comfortable of the wraps/slings.

At first, Adam was a bit leery of the amount of fabric that is used in a whole cloth wrap (about 5 yds); as all of the fabric is wrapped and tied around the “carrier’s” body. However, after using the wrap a couple times with our daughter, he was hooked and preferred that wrap to our other ring sling.

While researching and attending the class on wraps, we found the price range to be a bit steep for us in purchasing from a professional company or store. We would have loved to support our local baby store by purchasing the wrap, but at a $120 a wrap, we just could not afford it at that time. My B.A. in Art with an emphasis in Fiber Arts came into extra use as I decided to search for fabric and sew our own wrap. We began with a Muslin Cotton fabric and enjoyed using it. We then bought some knit fabric (similar to t-shirt sheets) and found that type of fabric to really work well for us. We still use both 100% cotton as well as knit fabrics for our whole cloth wraps.

After making and  wearing a wrap that was a bit more fashionable (black with gold imbedded sequins) I was approached by many people asking about how the wrap works and how they could purchase one. I then decided there may be a market for whole cloth wraps with a different fashion (color, fabric, embellishments) needed for parents to learn about and be excited to use a whole cloth wrap.

Not only did I get pumped about creating all different kinds of wraps by searching for awesome fabric, but I really want to make them reasonable for parents to afford one, if not two or three! The average price range for trademarked whole cloth companies is $60-150 per a wrap. I want to provide an opportunity to allow parents to purchase wraps for $50 and under. My wraps vary from $30-$50 a wrap, plus the total shipping costs, and includes an instructional DVD showing 11 different ways to use the whole cloth wrap.

I truly enjoy using the wrap and wish to pass on to others the excitement of baby-wearing,  while making it affordable. We are currently residing in a small town in NW Iowa while my husband completes a seminary internship, and while I truly love being at home with our daughter, I am excited to find an outlet to help other parents learn about baby-wearing and have the chance to try it out.

Please take time to view my FABRICS page as well as viewing the Knit Fabric website (located on the main Welcome page) to see if I offer a fabric that you may like and wish to purchase for yourself, your family, or friends who may want to give baby-wearing a try. Also, please view the PHOTOS page to see the 4 our of 11+ ways the whole cloth wrap can be used.

If and when you are interested in purchasing a home-made whole cloth wrap, please email me at wrapsodies@mail.com to inquire about the fabric, price of fabric, estimated shipping, instructional DVD, and/or any other questions you may have about baby-wearing.

Peace and Blessings to you day!