I always thought stuffed toys, now more known as “plushies” are mass produced and machine made. I was wrong, very very wrong. Each of the plush toys you see in the toy store are carefully and lovingly hand-stiched one piece at a time and the process is not easy.
Plush and Play, a social entrerprise born in the GK Enchanted Farm in Bulacan had me experience making one of their plush toys at the SM Megamall Atrium and it’s not an easy job that everyone could do, especially if you don’t have the patience and skill to sew by hand and using a high-speed sewing machine!
I was guided with the process of making the Plush and Play toy where I was given the hand on picking the design I would like to make. It was really an immersion kind of things so that we can appreciate more of what’s behind the simple toy and why patronize it.
First was picking a design, then tracing the shape, then cutting it, then sewing it using the high speed sewing machine leaving a small space for putting in the stuffing, then stuffing it, then hand sewing the space you used to fill it with fillers, then hand sew the details like leaves, eyes, nose, mouth, eye-lashes, necktie, ribbons or whatever you want on your plushie.
Honestly, I was not able to finish my plush toy as I did not have the luxury of time that day to finish the entire toy, I was not able to sew the details. It took me 30 minutes to finish sewing the base plush and the leaves on, I picked a mango btw, but I leave it to the Mothers of Gawad Kalinga to finish it for me (I feel bad haha!)
But I saw my Manggo Plushy naming it Manggagawa lol it was cute. Yuki kept it for me! Mine was the one of the right. Pic from Ava!
Which leads me to tell you all the reasons to patronize the Plush and Play toys:
- Each toy is carefully hand-stiched with love by Gawad Kalinga Mothers
- It restores the Filipino samstresses livelihood and pride in their craftsmanship.
- This gives Gawad Kalinga community mothers a livelihood that they can do at the comforts of their own home.
- Plush and Play toys are proudly Filipino made and is the first Filipino plush toy brand being sold at Toy Kingdom
- The Plush and Play toys are based on Philippine symbols and characters to educate the young people of the Philippine heritage and culture.
Would you like to try making your own plushie too?
You can personally try making your own plush toy, just drop by at the SM Megamall Atrium and approach any staff about the The Plush and Play Date activity area. This is the first and biggest toy making activity to date. They will be there until Sunday November 15,2015!
This is something you and your kids can enjoy doing together, this will make them appreciate their plushies more and a very education activity for them too (just guide them with the needles and the scissors can be very tricky to use).
If you want to know more about Plush and Play follow them on their social media accounts @PlushandPlay on Instagram and Twitter.
Stay gorgeous everyone!
