Teddy Bunny Plush Prototypes for a Toy Brand

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Description

Samples for someone else's toy line

These three bunnies were never meant for a shop shelf of ours. A customer planned a small line of soft toys to sell under their own brand, and asked us to sew the first samples by hand. We made them to order, for that one project, as plush prototypes the customer could hold, check and then have made again in numbers.

The line is a little team of teddy-style animals: a grey bunny, two beige bunnies and a curly ginger sheep. This page shows the three bunnies. The sheep has her own page.

What "teddy-style" means here

Think of an artist's teddy bear, only with long ears. The bodies are slim, the arms and legs are long, and the big flat feet have darker pads, so the toys sit up on their own with their legs out in front. All three are sewn from soft faux fur with dark glass eyes.

The grey bunny: taupe-grey fur, long floppy ears and a round brown button nose.
The two beige bunnies: warmer fawn fur, pink button noses, a bow or lace band on the head and matching heart-print dresses with white lace hems.

The dresses come off. That matters for a brand more than it seems: one base toy can be sold dressed or plain, and a new outfit can turn into a new product later without sewing a new bunny.

Why a brand starts with a hand-sewn sample

A drawing can't show how fur lies on an ear, or whether a toy tips over when you sit it down. A sample can. The customer sees the size, the proportions and the face in real life, asks for changes, and only then moves on to a run. The approved sample then works as the reference that later copies are checked against.

Your own plush line

From the idea and the first samples to a future collection, we can make prototypes for your brand, shop, project or business too. Send us a sketch, a mood board or a photo of a toy style you like. We sign an NDA, so your character stays private until you're ready to show it.

Need a factory to take it from there? Our Patterns & Prototypes service adds the full set of sewing patterns and an assembly guide to the prototype. More samples we've made for brands are in plush prototypes.

Materials used

All three bunnies are sewn from soft faux fur. We never use natural fur. The grey one is a cool taupe, the two beige ones a warmer fawn.

Faux fur for the body, ears and feet, with a smoother fabric on the foot pads
Glass eyes, dark and glossy, for that soft teddy look
Stuffing that keeps the bodies soft but lets them sit up on their own
Textile for the clothes: matching heart-print dresses with lace hems, plus the fabric bows

For your own line we can pick different fur, colours, clothes and noses. Tell us your price point and who will buy the toy, and we'll suggest materials that fit both.

Lead time

This set of samples usually takes 4–6 weeks. A single prototype with its full set of patterns usually takes about a month.

Most of that time goes into the first version of each toy: building the pattern from scratch, cutting the fur so the pile runs the right way, placing the eyes and nose until the face looks right, then sewing and stuffing by hand. Clothes are patterned and sewn separately.

If your brief is rough or very specialised, changes to the sample come in rounds, and each round adds some time. In our experience 2–3 rounds get a result the client is happy with.

Delivery

We ship worldwide. Once the samples leave us, delivery usually takes 7 to 20 business days, depending on your country, the courier and customs.

Around Christmas and other holidays couriers slow down everywhere, so add some extra time then.

Working to a date, like a trade show, a photo shoot for your shop or a meeting with a factory? Tell us when you ask for a quote. We'll say honestly whether the making time plus shipping fits, before any sewing starts. You see photos of the finished samples before they're packed.

Terms

We've been sewing toys to order since 2009, more than 1,100 of them, and prototypes for brands, game studios and authors are part of that work.

Prototype work runs as a business project under its own terms, agreed before we start and set out on the Patterns & Prototypes page:

With a clear brief and a finished reference image, one change is included once you see the sample.
If the brief is rough or very specialised, each extra round of changes is priced separately.
We sign an NDA, and the physical prototype stays with you.

You approve the sample before anything else happens, and you see photos of the finished pieces before they ship.