Fancy Finishes for Beginners

Everyone could use a little fancy! If you have some extra length in your wrap - for base size carries or short ones - then you just need a little motivation and this article to get fancy!

I love fancy finishes and playing with a wrap because it's something that can be a big motivator in wanting to try wrapping or continuing to persevere when learning gets rough. Most of the time there's no practical use for fancy finishes - sometimes they're quite practical and integrated into a carry - but really they make us feel good and give us confidence and inspire us to hold our babies close in a beautifully constructed series of passes... well clearly I'm a fan.

In our live tutorial for this week we're adding some fancy finishes to two different carries using two different sizes of wraps. The work of Emmeline Textiles joins us: fancy finishes in a base size are done with the Dots prototype, then we'll switch to Emmeline's Eleanor Pearl for some shortie fancy finishes in a base-2 size wrap (more info about sizes at amywrapsbabies.com/wrap-sizes). Here's a replay of our tutorial - don't forget to join us live on Tuesdays at 9 am Pacific time where you can ask your questions and get answers and feedback in real time! Make sure to check our events for what we're up to next.

I'll call out time stamps for important parts in the video as we go through the text below.

Base Size
For a base size wrap one of the first back carries I recommend is a ruck, which is what we're wrapped in for the first half of the video. If you're interested in the other carry I recommend learning for beginners, or if you don't already know how to tie a ruck, check out the live tutorial from two weeks ago. A plain ruck tied in front doesn't need quite the length of a base size wrap, but having that extra length is great for finishes. The two bunched tails that are tied in front can instead transform into a fun finish!

Tibetan Knotless
In the video at 3:24 I start to bring the two tails across my chest to make a Tibetan Knotless finish. The ends of the wrap will come OVER the ruck straps, then behind so that the ruck strap pins the end of the wrap in place. Spread the wrap over the chest so the bulk of the bunching is low and distributing any pressure.

Tibetan Knotted
This one is nearly identical to the knotless version. At 4:05 in the video I take the ends of the wrap out from being pinned by the ruck strap. For a knotted finish, the end of the wrap can go UNDER the ruck strap first, then come around to meet the other tail in the center of your chest. 

Goddess/Date Night
Another fun ruck ending is the goddess or date night finish - I start this one at 5:20 in the video. This time the two tails get twisted together at the waist, then bring the twist to the center of the chest so the ends are up by the ruck straps. Again the ends will come OVER the ruck straps for a knotless finish, then spread the wrap through the newly created waist belt. There are lots of opportunities here for different twists to show contrasting sides of the wrap.

Ring Ruck
Another thing we can do with these leftover tails is introduce a sling ring for fun finishes. To keep the ring flat, bring the tails through it in opposite directions like I do at 7:20 in the video - one tail through the front and one through the back. In the video I kind of make things up as I go along so I don't have to undo my bunched passes for a ring ruck right away. What other stuff could you do with a ring here? 

Star Finish
I start by taking my bunched passes down and checking my seat at 8:40 in the video. Then I thread the ring with tails coming through in opposite directions so the ring will lie flat. I start finishing knotless around 9:40 in the video and that will also help with keeping the ring flat on my chest.

So again I used a ruck as a starting point but for any of these finishes you could use any carry that has ruck straps coming over shoulder like a Jordan's Back Carry. Now you have at least 3 fancy finish options to start experimenting - what fancy finishes will you come up with?

Short Size
Base size wraps aren't the only ones that can go fancy. Short wraps can totally get pretty, and I like to start with them by tying at shoulder. There are 3 great carries for this that are good for beginners: Reinforced Rear Ruck we just did the other day in the Wrapped in Love and Luck challenge; Half Jordan's Back Carry and Double Sling are coming up in the challenge in March on day 17. Viewer's choice was to do a HJBC so that's what we tied starting at 13:05 in the video.

The three carries I mentioned all have one thing in common that is essential to the finishes listed here: they end with two tails on one side, also called tied at shoulder.

Candy Cane Chest Belt (CCCB)
Twist out two tails together across the chest to tie at shoulder - that's a candy cane chest belt, shown at 14:53. It can be finished knotless or with a knot. Finishing knotless also requires that the twisting starts at shoulder with the lower tail coming over the upper tail, pinning it in place as I show at 15:30 in the video. 

Kai Belt
A Kai Belt starts similar - I demo it at 15:45 in the video. Twisting the two ends of the wrap together but then stop around the mid point of your chest and bring the longer tail around to the opposite shoulder, bring it over and behind this ruck strap to make it knotless, then loop it back through the chest belt to finish the twisty look on both sides.

Buleria
This one has your "upper tail," that is the one that's coming over your shoulder, coming across the chest. At 16:55 in the video I show that in order for the upper tail to come across the chest, it needs to first be anchored with a half knot, then bring it across and finish it knotless at the other shoulder: over and behind the ruck strap.


So really for fancy finishes all you need is some extra tail and a little imagination! Experiment with tucks and twists and show me what you come up with! You'll be super ready for the last day of Wrapped in Love and Luck when we do ruck fancy finishes on St. Patrick's Day. For today we're tying a Short Ruckless Bikini Carry which is not super beginner-beginner-friendly but does inspire us to keep working up to it! And next week on our live tutorial we'll keep up the fancy theme but switch it to front carries! Because why should back carries have all the fun? Also, I have a special surprise coming up this week so make sure you are following our Facebook page so you don't miss it!

Have a great week, all! Happy wrapping!

This post was not sponsored by any company or group.