Sew Darn Cute

Cynics may say squishy toys should be left in the past with your batu seremban and Ninja Turtles. Jun Mei Yue begs to differ. Her blogshop BeaniPet offers handmade, one-of-a-kind animal pillows, so irresistible that you want to hug the living daylights out of them (if that were possible). “They’re all unique and the designs will not be repeated. How cool is that?” says Jun. “I also believe that my beanies bring their owners hope, love, joy and happiness because that's the concept of BeaniPet!” These tubby pillows are pretty endearing and recalls the Beanie Babies craze of the ‘90s that got collectors going positively gaga over the highly collectible bean-stuffed animals. BeaniPets started last October and it’s clear that Jun’s DIY gig packs potential—she’s got orders going through the roof! “I wanted to try something new by turning my 2-D drawings into 3-D. So I went to Sungei Wang and grabbed an affordable sewing machine without knowing how to operate it,” Jun says. “Then I just tried to learn how to operate the machine and how to use a needle!” Not bad for someone who started off as an artist of the pencil-and-brush variety. Her first creation was a bear. She’s gone on to design a veritable menagerie ranging from plump pigs to button-eyed monkeys. Her prices range from RM75 and upwards depending on the design, materials and time spent. Rest assured, Jun can whip up a pillow of your favourite animal in the cloth of your choice but, like any true-blue designer, she’s faithful to her own aesthetics. “I don’t replicate people’s designs and usually I’ll ask my customers to trust me on the designing part. If you love all the previous pillows that I’ve made, I’m sure you’ll like my customised pillows, which show my style and taste.” We sure do! For more of Jun’s adorable beantown buddies log on to beanipet.blogspot.com.

Text Maybritt Rasmussen Photo Kit Loh 

Article taken from KLue Magazine June 2009, Issue 128