Personalized Plush

A personalized stuffed animal is a plush sewn for one person, with something only they have: their name or a date embroidered on it, a recorded voice inside, clothes that come off, a face that looks like theirs, or their pet’s exact markings. At SKAZKODROM custom toys start from $350 and usually take 2–4 weeks to make.

We’re a soft toy studio. Since 2009 we’ve sewn more than 2,100 toys, and every one was made to order. There’s no shelf of ready toys waiting for a name tag. The whole toy starts from your idea, your photos and your wishes. The quote is free, and you see photos of the finished toy before it ships.

Below are the ways a plush gets personal, with real toys we’ve made for each one, and what each touch does to the price.

A store toy with a name stitched on is the simplest version. A made-to-order stuffed animal can go much further, because nothing about it is fixed yet. These are the personal touches we sew:

• Words: an embroidered name, initials, a date or a short message.
• A voice: a sound module with a message or a song you recorded.
• Clothes: an outfit copied from a photo, sewn like real clothes so it comes off.
• A face: a doll, or even a dragon, that looks like a real person.
• Markings: your pet’s spots, patches and eye color, copied from photos.
• Colors and size: their favorite colors, and a size that suits how the toy will be used.
• A logo: a team crest or a company badge, for a mascot or a corporate gift.

Why bother? A 2015 study in the Journal of Marketing found that people prefer handmade things when they choose a gift for someone close, because they see them as made with love (ScienceDaily summary). A personalized plush adds one more layer: it was made with them in mind.

Yes. A name, initials, a date or a few words can be embroidered on a custom stuffed animal. Embroidery is thread sewn into the fabric, so it doesn’t peel off the way a print can. A printed tag or design is possible too.

Our big bunny is the best example. Denis wanted a toy for his girlfriend and designed it with our artist, sketch by sketch. The bunny is about 1.2 m (4 ft) tall, in blue gingham with white daisies. On its red vest, right over the heart, their two names and a date are embroidered in white thread.

The lettering usually goes on the toy’s clothes: a vest, a shirt, a scarf. Put the exact words and spelling in your quote request, and say where you’d like them.

The big bunny’s red vest, with two names and a date embroidered in white thread.

Yes. A sound module is an option on request, so a custom plush can say something in your voice. People search for this as a recordable stuffed animal or a stuffed animal with a voice recording. We do it in two ways:

• You send a finished sound module, for example one recorded for you at a recording studio, and we put it inside while we sew. It can be removable, closed with a zipper or with Velcro.
• We build a compartment for a module into the toy while we make it.

Our Little Witch portrait doll shows the second way. On her back, under the dress, there’s a small fabric pocket with a lid, and the sound module sits inside. From the front you’d never know. She starts from $400.

Imagine a birthday, an anniversary or a long time apart, and a toy that says something only you would say.

The Little Witch: a talking portrait doll with a painted face.

The pocket on her back, open: this is where the sound module goes.

Yes, and clothes are one of the easiest ways to make a toy personal. We copy an outfit from a photo, or dress the toy in whatever the person loves: a work uniform, a favorite hoodie, a team shirt. The clothes are cut and sewn like real ones, just small, so they can come off.

• Our fisherman doll is a real angler in his orange cap and fishing shirt, holding a plush tuna. The shirt, the neck gaiter, the shorts and the cap all come off. From $370.
• Our Rattus Rattus plush has a black cap you can take off and put back on.
• Our hair color doll came with four felt wigs, because the girl she was made for changes her hair all the time.
• The Viola doll from The Witch’s House got a spare head and spare legs.

The fisherman doll in the outfit from his photos.

The same outfit off the doll: shirt, gaiter, shorts and cap.

They’re also great at thinking outside of the box and making useful little extras to complement their creations (the Viola doll came with extra, non-bloody head and legs, for when company arrives :p )

Sheba, Australia, about her Ellen and Viola dolls. Read her review

Yes. Send a few clear photos of the face and the hair, and we sew a toy people recognize. We copy what you’d spot from across the room: the hairstyle, the glasses, the beard, the jacket they always wear. These are likeness dolls, not caricatures.

We make two kinds of dolls of real people. One has a face painted by hand on cloth, like the Little Witch. The other is fully plush with an embroidered face, like our bearded look-alike. Both live in our mini me dolls, and our article on making a mini me doll covers them in detail.

The likeness doesn’t have to be human. A woman asked us for a dragon that looked like her husband, a keen fisherman. Our fisherman dragon got his wire glasses, his curled moustache, his grin and a fishing rod. Nobody looks at it and thinks “nice dragon.” They say his name.

A cartoon character can wear a real face too. Our Gadget look-alike was a birthday gift: the inventor mouse from Rescue Rangers, with the birthday girl’s face painted on. From $400.

The photo of the birthday girl we were sent.

Her Gadget look-alike doll, the face painted from that photo.

Yes. A stuffed animal that looks like your pet is all about the markings, and we copy them from your photos one by one. Our blue merle corgi has the real dog’s marbled back, tan spots over the eyes, and one ice-blue eye next to one brown eye. Our tuxedo cat has the small black spot under the nose that the real cat has.

Send clear photos of the face, both sides, the back and the tail, plus close-ups of anything special: odd eyes, a nicked ear, a white tail tip. We use faux fur only, never natural fur. The corgi starts from $470 and the tuxedo cat from $410. See more in pet stuffed animals and in our article on turning your pet into a stuffed animal.

The real corgi, from the owner’s photos.

The corgi plush, the ice-blue eye matched to the dog.

Yes, both. Colors can match the original or the person’s favorites. The hair color doll’s four wigs are pink, green, blond and black, and any color is possible. We’ve sewn Blabbit from My Singing Monsters twice: one with a lilac belly and yellow eyes, the other with a pink belly, one yellow eye and one blue. Same monster, two different toys.

We pick colors with the real fabric in hand, so tell us which ones matter most. The fisherman dragon was green in the sketch and came out a deep, bright blue.

Size is personal too. Ruslan wanted a Findus cat his daughter could carry around. The Findus on our site was 50 cm tall, so we made his 25–30 cm.

The hair color doll in her pink felt wig.

The same doll with the short green wig on.

A big thanks to Vyacheslav and everyone else who worked on this project, and thanks for making him the right size.

Ruslan, about the Findus cat he ordered for his daughter’s birthday. Read his review

Pick the one or two touches that point straight at the person. A toy with every option at once gets busy. A rough guide:

• A couple, an anniversary or a wedding: names and the date, embroidered.
• Someone far away: a sound module with your voice.
• A dad, a friend, a boss: a look-alike with the hobby in its paws, like the fisherman’s tuna or the dragon’s rod.
• A pet lover: a copy of their own pet, markings and eye color included.
• A fan: their favorite character, in the colors and size they’d pick.
• A child: a size they can carry, and their name on its clothes.

For gift timing, and how to find out what they’d want without spoiling the surprise, see our custom plush gift guide. Still not sure a custom plush is worth it? Read why custom plush toys make good gifts.

Yes. Hugo the lion is the mascot of a football club. His crest and lettering are embroidered, not printed, and his name and the number 10 sit on the back of his shirt like a player’s kit. Business orders work a little differently: see mascots, Hugo the lion and our article on branded plush.

Hugo the lion mascot: his name and the number 10, embroidered on the back of his shirt.

Custom toys start from $350. The price depends on the size and the detail, and each extra adds to it: a sound module, removable clothes, a portrait face. The toys on this page show the range, from the Little Witch at $400 to the corgi at $470. The quote is free and shows what each touch costs.

A personalized stuffed animal usually takes 2–4 weeks to make. Delivery is paid separately: regular post usually costs $50–60 and takes 7–20 business days, longer around holidays. For Christmas, order by November 1.

Before it ships, you get photos of the finished toy to approve. On a personal order, if you don’t love it, tell us within 14 days of delivery for a full refund. See our guarantee.

Tell us about them: a photo, a name, a color, a voice. We’ll reply with a price and a time estimate. You approve photos before it ships.

Custom toys start from $350.
A bigger size or extra details can cost more.