About Us
The Purple Saurus is a teeny-tiny one-woman (and her slightly long-suffering partner!) venture into the wonderful world of plush making, stemming from my lifelong love of soft toys :)
I've been making cuddly toys since the beginning of 2015 - since then I've traded at markets and animal rescue centre open days, made toys for the Sodbury Summer Search twice, received a "Highly Commended" award at the Young Traders' Market in 2019, and even opened my own little shop for a couple of years! These days, I'm back to market and event trading, and you will find all the dates here.
I'm always adding to my product range, so there really is something for everyone at The Purple Saurus :)
A Purple Saurus Story
The Journey So Far
It started with a teddy
In January 2015, I decided I wanted to make a teddy bear for my other half for Valentine's Day. I searched and searched for the perfect pattern, and I found it! I had my sewing machine, but was a little nervous at the time and thought it would be better to hand stitch. Many hours and a bit of frustration later, the very originally named "Teddy" was born! He's made from a very old jumper of mine that my sister and brother-in-law got me when I was 12 (I'd been hanging onto it for years "just in case"!) and a brown fleece that I pillaged from a charity shop. He's a little under-stuffed, and I confess not brilliantly stitched, but he is very much loved and he's very special :)
Photo: Teddy, Valentine's Day 2015 (we interrupted him watching the rugby to take this picture!)
The Purple Saurus is born
For many many years I have said "If I was a dinosaur, I would be purple with green spots". In November 2015, after the success of Teddy, I decided to make one! To be exact, Saurus is a Splodgeosaurus, "Splodge" being a pet-name of mine. Once again, I searched for the perfect pattern. It turned out to be simple but huge. A giant, cuddly saurus? Sounded good to me! I headed to the fabric shop, purchased the correct colours of fleece and sewed him together, this time using my sewing machine. The pattern is a little wonky, so all my sauruses' heads tilt to one side, which I love. Saurus' neck is a little under-stuffed, making it a bit floppy and adding to his character :) Once again, he was made for my other half - you will notice a theme emerging there!
Photo: Saurus in production, 17th November 2015. He was attempting to watch some tennis with me!
An idea
In January 2016, I had an idea; Why not turn my newfound hobby into a little business venture? Having been unable to do a normal job due to illness, it seemed like a sensible idea. "There must be people out there who love soft toys as much as me!" I thought. I already had a brand mascot in Saurus (everyone loves a dinosaur!), all I needed was a plan and some products. I was in luck - turns out people love plushies :)
Photo: Toby the Raccoon, Saurus, and Teddy - the original trio! Saurus does his best to keep them out of mischief!
Illness & First Craft Fair
In May 2016 I began having problems with my epilepsy again and became unwell. I haven't let it stop me though! In October 2016 I attended my first small craft fair, with my other half as my able assistant/merchandiser/"babysitter". He has an eye for making displays - I just make a mess of it, so I stick to the sewing! I only had a couple of sales, but it was good to get some feedback from potential customers and gauge which products would be popular. My Fat Bats got a lot of attention, which didn't surprise me, I absolutely love them :) I had a very positive experience and decided it was definitely something I wanted to do again as soon as possible.
Photo: The craft fair production line. Ignore me, look at the cutes!
Shop Stint, Christmas & New Goals
For the week before Christmas 2016, I was lucky enough to be able to sell some of my goodies in a local shop (run by the organiser of my first craft fair) - they sell all sorts of treats from local makers, and Kirsty, the owner, is a fantastic lady! (She also loved my reindeer, extra brownie points). I had a couple of commissions to complete for a friend of mine and a friend of my other half's as well, which involved having to create my own pattern for a bus plush, so I was certainly kept busy. It was around this time that I started to seriously begin looking into what markets and regular craft fairs were local to me.
Photo: A selection of my goodies on my table during my Christmas stint at The Home Crafters shop. The blue saurus is now part of my collection - his name is Archie =)
Second Shop Stint
After the positive response to my cuddlies in the shop before Christmas, I decided to book myself in for a second residency, for eight weeks, from the beginning of February. This was an exciting time, as the Home Crafters shop moved to a better spot on the shopping centre, and opened in the new unit on my first day - more footfall for the shop meant more visitors to my cuddlies!
Photo: My first shelf display at the Home Crafters shop, February 2017.
Event Aspirations
Following my second spell in the shop, I decided I wanted to try booking myself in at a couple more events. Over the summer, I received an email explaining that a member of a local choir had picked up my business card during my shop stint and asking if I would like to sell at their annual craft fair in November. I also began looking into getting the necessary insurance to be able to take my little creations along to some markets. Having done my research I could see that nobody else really made cuddlies like I do, and figured that this could make my stall a colourful new addition to a market!
Photo: Group photo of some Purple Saurus products by Rich McD.
August 2017
Having looked into local events, I decided it was more than worth getting my insurance so I could begin applying for markets as well as fairs. As of August 2017, I am a fully paid-up member of the NMTF (National Market Traders Federation) - in all honesty I think I'm more excited about my little membership card than anything else, I feel very official! I will be selling my cuddlies at the Victorian Christmas market in Chipping Sodbury on 2nd December, as well as the Bristol Harbourside Christmas market on 16th December (see the Events page for details), and am aiming to apply for a couple more markets in the New Year. Naturally, a certain Saurus is incredibly excited about the whole thing!
I couldn't have done any of this without the amazing support of my other half, James - he deserves a lot of praise for putting up with and encouraging me :)
Photo: Lovely portrait of Saurus by Rich McD. He thoroughly enjoyed being photographed!
2018/2019
2018 was a great year for The Purple Saurus - we traded at various open days and events (mostly animal rescue related, we are huge animal lovers at Purple Saurus HQ), as well as continuing to trade at Hatherell's Yard Market whenever possible.
In the summer of 2019, I made thirty adorable cuddly Dinosaurs for the Sodbury Summer Search, a fun, free event held in Chipping Sodbury every summer over the holidays, where various cuddly toys are hiding in shop windows and you track them down using a special map and checklist! Each completed entry is then put into a draw to win one of the thirty cuddly toys :) During this time, I also took part in the National Market Traders' Federation's "Young Traders Market", and won the Highly Commended award in the Arts & Crafts category!
Photo: The Sodbury Summer Search 2019 Dinos! Photo by Rich McD.
2020
In January 2020, one of the small retail units at Hatherell's Yard became available to rent, after the previous tenant found new premises. I had already applied for a unit there in 2019 and up until that one became available, opening my own shop hadn't been a consideration. I applied for the second unit just on the off chance, and was absolutely thrilled when I got the call offering it to me!
James and I fitted the shop out in February, and the official opening event was held on Saturday 29th February. Unfortunately the market was cancelled that day due to the high winds which had been forecast (and subsequently didn't materialise!), but whilst we didn't have the footfall from the market to rely on that day, we still did fairly well :)
Photo: The Purple Saurus shop frontage, March 2020. Photo by James :)
