Specialization in Textile Toy Creation: From Handcrafted Design to Digital Content

Elena Sánchez is an industrial designer by training and founder of Lele Lerele, a small brand that designs and sells handmade stuffed animals and dolls. To her, transforming a sketch or a piece of cloth into a little character with a smiley face is like magic. More than a decade ago, she decided to open an online store and, little by little, it became her full-time job.

From her first project to her latest creation, she has become an expert in sewing dolls and stuffed animals, and on top of running her own brand she has mastered photography, communication, storytelling, and planning in the process.

Omar Gad, also known as Piti Piti, is a self-taught textile sculptor specializing in three-dimensional pattern design and textile solutions. He is passionate about geometry, terror, mystery, and toys and is in constant search of the unusual.

Since opening the Piti Piti Plush Art studio, he has developed several lines of his own products, participated in individual and group exhibitions in Mexico and abroad, as well as collaborated with renowned artists and designers such as El Grand Chamaco, Bue the Warrior, Quique Ollervides, Pogo, Tixinda, Chika Galaxia, and more.

He has also worked commercially with clients including the Galería Mexicana del Diseño, Vértigo Galería, Hula Hula, MUAC, Passion & Design, Rojo Bermelo, Pepsi, Red Bull México, Habas World Wide, Kastner & Partners, and Digital Invaders.

Caro Bello has a degree in graphic design and describes herself as a self-taught "punch needle embroidery fanatic". Her design, photography, and illustration experience combined led her to create her own line of cushions embroidered with her own designs and characters based on unique stories.
 


She is a freelance designer who sells her pieces internationally and also gives punch needle classes. Her embroidery work has been widely recognized in publications for magazines like OHLALÁ, interior design blogs, and exhibitions such as the 2019 edition at Casa FOA in Buenos Aires.

Maria Mandea specializes in researching and designing how play happens in our daily lives. She is the founder of Micul HAOS (“little chaos” in her native Romania), a brand focusing on creating playful objects and characters that help develop a culture where play can happen for everyone.

Maria is also the co-founder of Super Serios, a design studio that develops urban games and playful art installations across a range of different mediums, including toys, human-scale board games, and stop-motion animation. You can find out more about Maria’s projects on Instagram and her websites.

Elena Ilyasova is a toy maker and pattern designer based in Oxford, England. Raised in a family of creatives, she learned to sew, knit, and crochet from a young age, making her first soft toy when she was just seven, and hasn’t stopped since. Her career took off when she started sharing the stuffed toys she had made for her own children on social media, which quickly led to a stream of orders and the creation of her brand Efi Little Things.

Through her brand, she makes soft toy patterns for companies and individuals. Her designs are inspired by the woodland creatures that populated traditional tales. The aim of her work is to support both small businesses and craft lovers in keeping this tradition alive while promoting sustainable, handmade items over mass-produced toys. When she’s not creating her own designs, she shares her knowledge with others through online classes and tutorials.