The Fibers
The natural ingredients we work with
Our carriers aren’t made of one fiber. They’re blends. These are the four fibers we work with; each pairing has a purpose.
Strong, breathable, breaks in fast. Always paired with cotton in our blends.
The friendlier counterpart in every blend. Takes dye like nothing else.
Heavier, denser, naturally cool. Slubby texture, slight shimmer.
Wood-pulp cellulose, closed-loop process. Silky and fluid.
← swipe to see all four →
Every fabric we make is soft. Some are softer faster, some break in slower into something extraordinary. None of them are stiff in any way that matters, and all of them outperform the synthetic-blend carriers you’ll find elsewhere.
The Blends
Three natural fiber fabric blends
Lightweight, breathable, softer faster. Our most versatile fabric.
Substantial, structured, naturally cool. Holds shape from day one.
Silky, stretchy, designed for newborns. Stretchy carrier only.
← swipe to see all three →
Find Your Fabric
A quick quiz to point you in the right direction
Which carrier are you shopping for?
Who’s this carrier for?
What’s your climate like most of the year?
Pick what you love.
For Lark and Sprout, the structure of the carrier handles the work, so the fabric difference is mostly about how it feels and looks. Choose whichever pattern speaks to you.
Shop the collection →Tencel-Cotton.
Our stretchy carriers are made in a Tencel-cotton blend designed specifically for the newborn stage. Silky, supportive, second-skin feel from the very first wear.
Shop stretchy wraps →Hemp-Cotton.
Our Meh Dai is made in our hemp-cotton blend. Lightweight, breathable, and softens beautifully with use.
Shop the Meh Dai →Hemp-Cotton Ring Sling.
Double-layer through the rings for extra support, breaks in faster than linen, and handles babies and toddlers comfortably. Our most versatile ring sling fabric.
Shop hemp-cotton ring slings →Linen-Cotton Ring Sling.
Single-layer construction, naturally cooling, lightweight, and moisture-wicking. Ideal for hot climates and a great first ring sling.
Shop linen-cotton ring slings →Either one works.
For a newborn or infant in a mild or four-season climate, both fabrics will serve you well. This is the fun decision: pick your favorite color or pattern.
Fabric FAQs
Are all your fabrics actually soft?
Yes. Every blend we make is comfortable from the first carry. The cotton in our blends takes the edge off plant fibers like hemp and linen so nothing feels stiff or scratchy on baby. The differences we describe below are real but subtle: some break in faster, some are cushier on the shoulder, some are silkier against skin. There’s no “uncomfortable option” in the lineup. Softness is just one of several things to consider.
Why does hemp feel stiff at first?
Hemp’s strength comes from its long, hollow fibers, which is also what makes it crisp out of the package. Every wash and every wear softens it. A hemp-cotton carrier you’ve used for six months feels nothing like a brand-new one, and the broken-in version is what most parents end up reaching for.
The cotton in the blend takes the edge off from day one, so even a fresh hemp-cotton carrier is wearable. It just gets dramatically better.
Why is my linen-cotton ring sling single-layer when hemp-cotton is double?
Linen-cotton is denser and heavier than hemp-cotton, so a single layer through the rings provides the same support that hemp-cotton needs two layers to achieve. It’s not a corner-cut. It’s an engineering decision based on each fabric’s density. The carry feels equally supportive; the hand-feel is just different.
What’s the difference between yarn-dyed and piece-dyed?
Yarn-dyed: the threads are dyed before they’re woven. Used in chambrays, woven designs, and all our linen-cotton fabrics. The dyeing process itself softens the fibers, so yarn-dyed cloth comes off the loom already broken in a bit.
Piece-dyed: the cloth is woven first, then dyed as a finished piece. Solid colors live here. Slightly stiffer to start since the fibers haven’t been worked as much, but no less durable.
Printed: the cloth is woven first, then printed after. Stiffest of the three to start. The trade-off is access to bold graphics and complex multi-color prints that aren’t possible to weave directly.
What’s a jacquard, exactly?
A jacquard is a weave structure where complex raised patterns are built directly into the cloth. Not printed on, not embroidered, but woven right into the fabric using a programmable loom. The raised and recessed areas trap air, which gives jacquard a distinctly airy, cushioned feel that flat weaves can’t match. More cush on the shoulder, more visual depth, and the kind of character that gets better with years of use.
Hemp or linen: how do I actually choose?
Honestly? Many parents end up with both. Linen-cotton for the newborn stage, when you want a fabric that holds its shape while you’re still figuring out yours. Hemp-cotton once the carries get longer and lighter starts to matter more.
For Lark and Sprout, the two fabrics are close enough in behavior that it really comes down to feel. If you can pick up both, do. Your hands will know.
Which hemp design type is right for me?
If you want soft from day one: chambray or woven design. Quieter colors, immediate hand-feel.
If you want the carrier that turns heads: print or piece-dyed. Bolder palette, slightly more structure out of the box, softens into something brilliant with use.
Both are good. It just depends on whether you’re the understated type or not.
Is Tencel sustainable?
Tencel is made from sustainably harvested wood-pulp cellulose in a closed-loop process, meaning the solvent used to dissolve the pulp is recovered and reused at over 99% efficiency. It’s one of the more sustainable man-made fibers available, and a step up from generic rayon or viscose, which often use more aggressive chemistry without recovery.
Want more detail?
You want to understand every fiber, every weave, every design type, and exactly why it matters. We’re genuinely like this too. Welcome to the deep end.
The Fibers, Properly
The full story behind each one
Exceptionally strong, weight for weight. Hemp is hollow-stalked, so it wicks moisture and breathes well. It starts crisp and stiff, then softens dramatically with every wash and wear, building a broken-in quality that cotton alone never quite gets to. In a blend, it’s the thing that makes a carrier last.
That initial stiffness is structure. Hemp holds exactly where you put it, which a lot of caregivers come to love as their baby gets heavier and wrigglier. The softening happens fast once you start using it, and a well-worn hemp-cotton carrier is often the one that never gets put away.
The one everyone already knows. Soft, skin-friendly, and the best natural fiber for taking dye, which is why our colors are as saturated as they are. In a blend, cotton does the diplomatic work: it softens hemp’s crispness and linen’s weight, making both fabrics considerably more approachable from the start.
Cotton is the reason a new hemp-cotton or linen-cotton carrier doesn’t feel like a challenge. It takes the edge off while the plant fibers do their structural thing. First carry, it already feels like something you could wear all day. Because you can.
Cool, dense, and naturally thermo-regulating. Linen comes from flax: a hollow fiber with a characteristic slubby texture that gives linen-blend fabrics their visible depth and slight shimmer. It’s heavier than hemp-cotton and takes longer to fully break in, but what it becomes with use is genuinely worth the patience.
Linen’s weight and precision make it excellent for newborns, when you want a fabric that holds its shape while you’re figuring out yours. Many parents start with a linen-cotton carrier for exactly this reason. The cotton in the blend takes the stiffness down a notch, and the structure does the rest of the work for you.
Made from sustainably harvested wood-pulp cellulose in a closed-loop process that recovers nearly all its solvent. The resulting fiber is exceptionally fine, with a fluid drape and a natural sheen that’s immediately obvious. It’s also the best moisture-wicking fiber we use, and the most temperature-regulating fiber in our range.
Blended with organic cotton in our stretchy carriers, Tencel is what gives them their silky, second-skin feel. The temperature regulation matters more than you’d think: newborn carries are long and close, and Tencel keeps things comfortable on both sides without ever feeling damp.
The Blends, In Full
Each fabric, what’s in it, how it’s woven, and what that means when you’re wearing it
Our lightest woven fabric, and the one with our boldest prints and colors. Hemp-cotton is finer and more fluid than linen-cotton, breaks in faster, and has no complaints in the heat. Because the cloth is thinner, ring slings are constructed from two layers through the rings: same supportive carry, different weight in the hand. Understated or unmissable, it’s all here.
Our most substantial fabric. Heavier, denser, with a slubby texture that makes every piece look hand-woven even when it isn’t. It comes out of the packaging more structured than hemp-cotton. Some parents read that as “harder to learn with,” others read it as “holds its position immediately.” Both are accurate. Ring slings are single-layer: the fabric’s weight and density does the work that double-layer hemp-cotton achieves through volume.
Stretchy carriers are a different animal, but don’t mistake “stretchy” for “saggy.” Our Tencel-cotton carriers are built to hold their shape, with the give to move with a newborn’s body and the support to keep them exactly where they need to be. Tencel handles the drape, sheen, and temperature regulation. Organic cotton handles the softness and color. Together, they make a fabric designed for the newborn stage that quietly outperforms its brief.
What “Soft” Actually Means
Spoiler: it’s not just one thing
Quick reassurance: this is not a “is it soft?” question. All our fabrics are soft. This is a “what kind of soft do you want?” question.
Softness isn’t one quality.
When people say a carrier “feels soft,” they’re describing up to four different qualities at once, and the same fabric can score very differently on each. Smoothness, cushion, fiber uniformity, and prior handling all combine into what your hand registers as “soft.” Understanding them helps you understand why a hemp-cotton chambray feels so different from a hemp-cotton print, even though they’re the same blend.
Smoothness
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How the surface behaves against skin.
Whether it’s frictionless and silky, or slightly textured comes from the fiber. Tencel is the smoothest. Linen has a characteristic slub, texture that’s part of its appeal, not a flaw. Yarn-dyed fabrics land smoother than printed because the fibers were softened after dyeing in the weaving process.
Cushion
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How much the fabric gives on the shoulder.
Textured weaves like jacquard create raised areas and air pockets that a plain weave doesn’t have, and those translate directly into shoulder comfort under load. A plain weave linen-cotton is supportive and precise. A linen-cotton jacquard is all that, plus noticeably cushy.
Fiber uniformity
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How even the yarns feel across the cloth.
Cotton fibers are short and consistent: very smooth, very uniform. Hemp and linen fibers are longer and more variable, which gives them texture and a slight roughness when new. The cotton in our blends is specifically doing this job, evening things out and making both fabrics much friendlier to new skin from day one.
Prior handling
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How much the fabric was worked before it reached you.
Yarn-dyed fabrics (chambrays, woven designs) go through dyeing, drying, and the full mechanical action of the loom, all before the carrier is finished. That’s a lot of softening. Printed and piece-dyed fabrics are dyed after weaving, so they start stiffer. Not worse. Just different, and worth knowing.
All linen-cotton is yarn-dyed, so weave is the main variable. Jacquard edges ahead on cushion thanks to its raised structure.
See the Difference
Drag to compare
Hemp-cotton vs. linen-cotton
Notice the texture: hemp-cotton is finer, linen-cotton has visible slub.
Hemp-cotton
Linen-cotton
Chambray vs. illustrated print
Same blend, different design type. The chambray’s color comes from the yarn itself.
Chambray
Print
