SLAP Baby Designs Sounds Like a Plan

Handmade in South Africa

The jersey
is still in there.

Nicolene and Irma Swanepoel sew keepsake bears by hand. Send the clothes that already mean something — a match jersey, a first cot sheet, a uniform — and they come back as a bear that still shows the badge, the print, the buttons.

Send us your fabric See what we have made
A teddy bear sewn from a blue Stormers rugby jersey and cap, with the Vodacom Super Rugby badge on its chest
Made from
Stormers jersey and supporter cap
Kept
Vodacom Super Rugby badge, Six Gun Grill sleeve print
Height
About 34 cm, before the cap

One of one · Handmade in South Africa

A pale blue teddy bear sewn from a nursery cot sheet printed with Winnie the Pooh characters, wearing a yellow sun hat and a ribbon bow
A first cot sheet
One of one
No two bears leave here the same, because no two garments arrive the same. Each stands about 34 cm tall, before the cap.
Your fabric
Match jerseys, cot sheets, baby-grows, uniforms, a shirt nobody can throw away.
Two sisters
Nicolene and Irma, cutting and sewing every panel between them.
Made to order
Nothing is kept in stock. Yours starts once you have told us about it.

Two ways to get a bear

Memory bears

Send us the clothes

A match jersey, a first cot sheet, a uniform, a shirt nobody can bring themselves to give away. We unpick it, place the panels so the badges and prints land where you would want them, and sew it back up as a bear.

Start an enquiry

Character bears

Pick a theme

Made new in fresh cotton, corduroy or leatherette, then dressed: a nurse, a theatre bear, a girl in a yellow pinafore. A soft, safe gift for a baby shower, a christening, a graduation or a last day on the ward.

See the character bears

Fresh off the machine

All 14 bears
A patchwork teddy bear with a floral head, a striped muzzle, a pink check body, floral arms and painted-print legs, with black denim ears and foot pads, a black denim cap and a matching tie

The patchwork bear

Floral, check, stripe and printed cottons, with black denim

A navy leatherette teddy bear with white ears, inner arms and foot pads, wearing a white hat and a bow tie in matching blue and white striped ribbon

The navy and white bear

Navy and white leatherette

A brown leatherette teddy bear in a denim bib apron with brass eyelets, a frayed pocket and a wooden "handmade with love" button, wearing a denim flat cap and a navy bow tie

The denim apron bear

Brown leatherette

A teddy bear sewn from a blue and white printed shirt, with khaki ears, arms and foot pads, the khaki shirt collar at its neck, Relay Jeans buttons on its feet and a camouflage cap

The shirt and chinos bear

Printed cotton shirt, khaki chinos and a camo cap

Got fabric with a memory in it?

Send a photo of what you have and tell us who it is for. We come back with what is possible, how long it takes and what it costs.

Send an enquiry