Handmade vs Factory

A mass-produced plush is one design sewn thousands of times in a factory. A handmade plush gets its own pattern, fabric picked for it, and is cut, sewn and stuffed by hand, face last. At SKAZKODROM custom toys start from $350 and usually take 2–4 weeks to make. A factory toy is cheaper and on the shelf today.

Both have their place. A shop toy is fine when any teddy will do. Handmade makes sense when the toy has to be one thing in particular: your dog, your child’s drawing, your own character, a toy you lost years ago. We’ve sewn toys to order since 2009, more than 2,100 of them, and you see photos of yours before it ships.

Here are the two side by side, step by step. The first list is how most shop plush is made. The second is how we work.

Mass-produced plush

• Pattern: one design, cut thousands of times.
• Fabric: chosen for the whole run, ordered in bulk.
• Sewing and stuffing: on a production line, many hands, each doing one step.
• Face: the same embroidery or eyes on every copy.
• Changes: none. You get what’s on the shelf.
• Time: today, or a few days by post.
• Price: from a few dollars.

Handmade plush at SKAZKODROM

• Pattern: drawn for this one toy.
• Fabric: picked for this toy: plush, minky, fleece, felt, velvet or faux fur.
• Sewing and stuffing: cut, sewn and stuffed by hand by our makers.
• Face: done last, by eye, until it looks like the reference.
• Changes: you approve photos of the finished toy before it ships.
• Time: usually 2–4 weeks to make, then 7–20 business days of delivery.
• Price: custom toys from $350.

A factory makes a sample once, then copies it. Machines and a line of workers repeat the same cuts and seams, which is why shop plush is cheap and every copy looks alike. People have also always sewn stuffed toys at home from whatever fabric was around; sock monkeys started that way (Wikipedia).

A handmade plush at our studio is made once, for one person:

1. The pattern is drawn for this toy. When the picture you send needs simplifying for fabric, our artist draws a plush version first.
2. The fabric is picked for it. Say, short plush for a smooth cartoon, long faux fur for a fluffy dog, felt for small details.
3. Every piece is cut, sewn and stuffed by hand.
4. The face comes last. A millimeter changes a character, so eyes, nose and mouth go on once the body is done.
5. You see it before it ships. You get photos. If something looks off, we change it.

Our rainbow kitty shows it well. A little girl drew a teary-eyed cat on a scrap of paper, and the toy was sewn stripe by stripe in six colors of plush, tears and all.

The girl’s pencil drawing, the reference for the toy.

The rainbow cat plush sewn from it, made to order.

Faces are where hand work shows most. Our Baby Yoda doll has a face sculpted from clay and painted with acrylics. The family cat, a copy of a lost toy, got its nose, smile and whiskers stitched by hand to match the old photos.

Baby Yoda doll: a clay face, sculpted and painted by hand.

A lost cat plush, remade: nose, smile and whiskers stitched by hand.

An honest list. Factory plush wins on price and speed, and for a lot of uses that’s all that matters.

Factory plush: pros and cons

• Pro: cheap, so losing one or washing it to bits is no drama.
• Pro: ready now, and you can see it before you pay.
• Pro: every copy is the same, handy if you want two.
• Con: only the characters and sizes someone decided to make.
• Con: can’t look like your pet, your child’s drawing or your old toy.

Handmade plush: pros and cons

• Pro: made from your picture, in the size you ask for.
• Pro: one of a kind; the pattern was drawn for your toy.
• Pro: extras on request: wire for poses, a sound module, LED lights, clothes that come off, an embroidered name.
• Con: costs more: custom toys start from $350.
• Con: takes weeks, so it can’t be a last-minute gift.

When no shop can sell you the toy, because it has to look like one particular thing:

• Your pet. Markings, ear shape, the odd eye. Lucky was sewn from photos of a real dog, one ear up, one flopped. More in pet stuffed animals.
• A toy you lost. We remake childhood toys from old family photos, like Ika the monkey. See lost toy replicas, from $295.
• Your drawing or your own character. A child’s doodle or an artist’s OC, like Lou the dog. See plush from drawings; original characters start from $400.
• A character nobody makes, or one that exists but not in the size or version you want. Our Despicable Me unicorn was sewn at about 50 cm.
• A gift that has to mean something. A toy built around one person’s story, not picked off a shelf.

If any shop teddy will do, get the shop teddy. That’s the honest answer.

Lucky, a plush replica of a client’s dog, sewn from photos.

The fluffy unicorn from Despicable Me, sewn to order in the size the customer asked for.

There’s a middle option: online services that take your photo and have a custom plush made in a factory. They can be cheaper and quicker than a studio, and for a simple design that can be fine.

Before ordering a custom plush anywhere, ask these questions:

• Is a pattern drawn for my toy, or is a standard body adjusted to it?
• Who sews it, and can I talk to them about details?
• Do I see photos of the finished toy, and can I ask for changes before it ships?
• What happens if I don’t love it?

Our answers: a pattern for each toy, sewn by hand by makers who have been sewing toys for over ten years, photos before shipping with changes until it’s right, and on personal orders a full refund within 14 days of delivery, keeping the toy. Details on how we work and our guarantee.

A small-batch toy maker makes toys in small numbers rather than mass runs. US consumer-product rules even put a figure on it: a small-batch manufacturer is one that made no more than 7,500 units of the same product in the previous year (CPSC). We make one of each.

What buying from a small maker gets you:

• You talk to the studio that sews it. We go through the details with you before anything is cut.
• Changes are possible. A longer tail, a different shade, a name on the paw.
• Toys nobody stocks. Rare characters, pets, people, your own designs.
• Someone checks every piece. At our studio that’s the photo approval before shipping.

The price of all that is money and time. A plush made in a batch of one costs more than one from a run of thousands.

The biggest one: the doll is theirs. A handmade doll or plush can be their own drawing, their pet, a character from their favorite book, or a doll that looks like them.

Homemade plushies, sewn at home by a parent, have the same charm. If you don’t sew, a studio does the sewing for you from your child’s drawing. More ideas in our article on custom plush for children.

A factory plush costs from a few dollars to a few dozen. At SKAZKODROM custom toys start from $350, replicas of lost childhood toys from $295 and original characters from $400. Each toy is priced by its size and detail, and the quote is free.

The gap is time. A factory spreads one pattern and one sample over thousands of toys. A handmade plush carries its own pattern, its own fabric choice and weeks of hand sewing. Where the money goes is broken down in what your custom plush costs.

Both of these customers looked for a shop toy first. Sheba wanted two dolls from a horror game, and Ruslan wanted a book character for his daughter.

“I’d been trying to find plush dolls of Ellen and Viola from the free horror game The Witch’s House for a long time without success when I finally stumbled upon Skazkodrom, who I should have gone to straight from the beginning! Impeccable craftsmanship and attention to detail, and excellent communicators.”

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

“Since the character is rather unique, I searched online for ages … The toy wasn’t cheap, but it was definitely worth it.”

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

Send a picture and tell us the size. We’ll reply with a price and a time estimate. For Christmas, order by November 1.

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