Our softest, highest quality wool/silk blend vest top, a combination of Merino wool and pure silk for warmth, gentleness and breathability with extra softness.

• 70% organic Merino wool and 30% silk
• insulating and breathable and chemical-free for sensitive skin
• a high quality, well-finished vest top in a wonderful fabric

PS: The label at the neck is very easily removed if need be. Lovely!

This is made from 70% organic Merino wool blended with 30% pure silk. Natural enzymes from papaya and banana are used to make this wool/silk fabric machine-washable at 30oc on a wool cycle.

It's certified organic to GOTS standards, which includes high standards of animal husbandry, and also meets the "Naturland" criteria of excellence in social welfare in all stages of processing.

Merino wool is a kind of wool fibre that is very fine, soft and springy and is not itchy at all to most skins. The Merino sheep usually thrives in mountainous areas at high altitudes and its wool is naturally brilliant at keeping the body comfortable at a wide range of temperatures.

Living Crafts' Merino wool comes from Australia and their silk from India. Cambridge Baby ensures all our wool comes from farms that do not practise mulesing and have high animal welfare standards.

Wool/silk combines the thermo-regulating properties of wool with the gentle silkiness of silk and makes a truly excellent next-to-the-skin layer.

• Wool absorbs moisture into the centre of the fibre, so that it still feels dry on the outside. This is very healthy for your skin - your skin stays dry while the wool can absorb up to 33% of its own weight while feeling dry.
• Wool "breathes", releasing its moisture out into the atmosphere. It does this dynamically in response to the environment, so if you or your child is active and sweating more, wool works harder for you. Wonderful.
• In this way, wool is a wonderful temperature-regulator, slowing down the effects of changes of temperature and helping prevent sweatiness by absorbing moisture and releasing it in response to the environment. This makes it a wonderful fabric for babies and the growing bodies of children as well as for athletes, cyclists, skiers and mountain-climbers. It's naturally high-tec and can't be beaten by synthetics!
• Wool is also naturally anti-bacterial, dirt-resistant and very stretchy, making wonderful clothes that are easy to put on and take off, excellent for dressing babies and children.
• The health benefits of wool are being revealed time and time again. For example, it's better for the health of premature babies if they are nursed on wool rather than cotton and it's better for the skin of hospital patients if they lie on wool rather than polyester.
• Wool helps sleep too. At least two studies show that people get a better night's sleep with wool around them - people go to sleep more quickly, sleep longer and have better quality sleep too.

Find out more about the properties of wool here in our blog.

Merino wool is the wool of choice for baby and children's clothes, as well as for sportswear, because it's finer than most other wools. It's naturally springy (which makes it softer) and has a tight crimp, allowing it to trap more air, making clothing lighter as well as softer for the same excellent insulation.

Merino wool has also been proven to absorb UV across the whole range of the spectrum, giving excellent lightweight sun protection in the summer too.

Organic Merino wool combined with the gentle, skin-friendly properties of silk makes the ultimate fabric for the well-being of the skin and body.

Wool is naturally self-cleaning, the outer surfaces of the fibre pushing dirt down and off itself. It's naturally anti-bacterial and neutralises odours too. Silk also releases dirt easily, so after wearing, the best thing to do is to hang your silk/wool clothing to air rather than wash.

Living Crafts' wool/silk fabric is a soft, natural fabric that can be gently machine washed on a 30oc wool cycle, or hand washed, at temperatures up to 30oc.

Use a detergent designed for wool and silks which is gentle, and which protects and repenishes wool's natural oils. We recommend one of our liquid wool shampoos in our fabric care section here.

Wool cycles maintain a constant luke-warm temperature throughout the wash and rinse cycles, so as not to "shock" the wool into felting.

To hand-wash your wool silk fabric, dilute your wool detergent in cool water, max 30oc (luke-warm only, should feel coolish), in a bowl. For heavily-soiled areas, use a little gall soap beforehand, testing on an inconspicuous area first.

Add your wool/silk clothing to the bowl, gently stirring and squeezing the detergent through. Rinse using water at the same temperature, otherwise the wool will be subjected to "shock" and might felt up. So luke-warm/coolish at 30oc again.

Things not to do! Don't wring, soak, brush or rub vigourously as the wool and silk fibres may be damaged and your garment felt up a little and shrink. Just squeeze the water through.

To dry your wool/silk clothes, gently squeeze water out and wrap them clothes in a towel to remove the excess water. Air-dry naturally avoiding direct heat. So, hanging on a drying rack over the bath is good, or on a clothes horse. Mine often end up over the back of chairs or on the washing line in the shade (I haven't had a problem with the the heat of the English being too hot, yet, but direct sunlight is not good for wool or silk).

Re-shape while still damp.

Living Crafts is a German company dedicated to producing eco-friendly, fairly traded, quality clothes. Their certifications include GOTS, Naturland and Control Union.

All employees have regulated working conditions, including a fair wage, fair working hours and regular breaks. Naturally, child labour is banned. Living Crafts goes even further to look after the planet and its inhabitants; it uses renewable energy. 100% wind power ensures an environmentally sound production. Such impressive credentials, combined with beautiful, practical, comfortable designs - truly awesome!