my menagerie

my menagerie_9 - Caitlin Perkins

More about my menagerie

my menagerie offers handmade soft felt toys and cuddly felt pieces, for the home & nursery with an overriding animal theme. Their range includes soft toys, novelty cushions, hot water bottle cases and small animal brooches. The maker can also readily design and make up special custom order upon request.

my menagerie is all about slow-making and slow-giving. Each piece is made from natural & durable merino wool felt. Each piece is designed & hand-stitched by the sole maker and sole pair of hands behind my menagerie, Caitlin, in her Blue Mountains studio. They are slowly made, in small amounts or as one-off pieces, and designed to be a keepsakes that will cherished & last for a long, long time.

The maker draws inspiration from her local surrounds in the Blue Mountains. She also draws inspiration from her childhood, growing up on a small hobby farm, set amongst bushland, in the Huon Valley in Tasmania, and close encounters she had with native birds & animals during her childhood, including hand-rearing a variety of orphaned or injured wildlife. The maker’s designs celebrate her hand-stitched detailing; an ode to the Japanese embroidery technique of “sashiko”. This draws on the maker’s great appreciation of Japanese design aesthetics and craftmanship, and the several years she spent living there. Being conscious of its environmental footprint, the maker chooses to make her pieces from a high-quality, natural and long-lasting material (wool felt), paired with an eco-friendly stuffing made locally from recycled plastic water bottles. my menagerie opts for eco-friendly packaging; wrapping and packaging pieces in tissue paper made from recycled paper, paper-gummed tape and compostable (and re-usable) mailer bags.

my menagerie’s pieces are perfect to display more ornamentally in a nursery or within a home, or to be cuddled to bits!

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