Behind the Scenes: The making of Mademoiselle & Monsieur Lapin our Flannel Stuffed Bunnies
Hello dear friend,
At the beginning of my entrepreneur journey, I was filled with so much fear starting EllieFunDay. There were days where I would roll out of bed and just stand in my closet, staring into space; paralyzed with fear not knowing even where or how to start. A deluge of doubts overwhelmed me. This negative-Nancy-voice was telling me "you're not good enough, no one will like your designs, you're gonna make a fool out of yourself."
But the one thing that kept me going was this, if I didn't try, I wouldn't ever know if I could succeed. I knew that if I didn't try, I wouldn't know if I COULD make a difference in this world, and that was enough for me to try. With just a tiny inkling of hope, I started. I started to do my best to make this little company into the dream of EMPOWERMENT.
Empowerment means self-sustainability, dignified jobs and a safe place for women who are marginalized. With that being said, I'm super excited about this new collection of stuffed bunnies is made by My Choices Foundation's Peacecrafters. Each doll helps provide access to counseling and safe alternatives for women suffering from domestic violence.
I'd love to share with you the meticulous process of making these lovingly hand-made bunnies.
STEP 1: Tracing : each pattern is hand-traced onto fabric, one by one.
Step 2: Cutting : then a master tailor will cut with gigantic sheers (something that I'm not capable of!) precisely around all the tight little corners.
3. Sew Arms : then these tiny little arms are matched together and sewn in assembly line fashion.
3. Sew Ears : of course the ears follow suit
4. Embroider Details : here is where the fun part begins... the personalities of the little bunnies start emerging when their features are hand-embroidered. I love that Monsieur Lapin has a bit of side-eye action. :) Each and everyone one of them are slightly unique! No two are exactly alike. Then the last embroidered detail, the golden star is a mark of the handcrafted nature.
4. Assembly time! : Then all the parts; the ears, arms and body are all sewn together carefully and just a tiny little opening is left unsewn so that the bunny can get fat (oh I mean get stuffed). ;)
5. Stuff and fluff the bunny : the funnest part about bringing this bunny to life is the stuffing. Did you know that it takes as much time to stuff the bunny as it takes to cut and sew it together? There's quite an art to stuffing. If it's stuffed too little, he'll feel like a limp biscuit, too much and you can pummel him with someone. (no one likes a stiff...). Also if the stuffing isn't properly distributed through it's body parts, things can look a little cellulitey. Yes we all hate cellulite. So the Peacecrafters have gotten just the right technique in making sure that these bunnies have just the right balance of form and cuddliness.
6. Sew the accessories! Each ruffle collar that is made for Mademoiselle Lapin is made of two laters of luscious silk.
7. Accessorize! We all like a little character in our outfits and Monsieur and Mademoiselle Lapin are known to like to snazz things up a bit. So this is where they get dressed.
7. Quality check: Then it's time for the master tailor to check each and every little detail of the bunnies to make sure they come out perfectly stitched and ready for their debut into the world. 
CLICK HERE to SEE Mademoiselle & Monsieur Lapin in it's full adorableness!
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