Introducing Felt Food Pioneer...Hilary Seabolt from Lilly Bean! Many thanks to Hilary for making the time to do this interview. I was so inspired by her story. I hope you are too! Aren't her creations so delicious looking? The Christmas cookies are so precious.
Q: Ever since I've seen your website, I've been fascinated with wool felt play food.
I've also noticed that there is a proliferation of interest of felt play food all around. I found many people selling their own in their Esty/ on-line stores and even various patterns/manuals so that you could make you own. How did your company get started?
A: When I started making wool felt play food over four years ago, no one was making it. I thought, how silly, this (stuffed play food) is an awesome product. So much nicer than the hard plastic stuff. I did searches on the internet to see if others were making stuffed play food and I found nothing. Then two years later, my husband filed for divorce and I, a stay a home mom was jobless. I got a job right away, but a friend pointed to the basket of play food in the corner and said, "You know, those are really cute. Everyone likes them. You should sell them" so I did! I started selling on Etsy. It was a hit. Boutiques and specialty toy stores started emailing me and I was able to quit my job. Let me make it clear that I am in no way a rich woman, but I can pay my bills and am able to stay home with my children.
Q: What makes Lilly Bean different from all other wool felt play food companies?
A:Well, for one thing we plan on staying in the US. We are in small scale production right now. We basically go about this the old fashion way--no fancy equipment, no factory, no overworked employees. Everything is worked on one at a time by hand. A small group of Amish woman and a machine seamstress help with all of the production. I still sew every day too. I have a personal friendship with the Amish women that work with me and it is absolutely wonderful to be able spend time with them. We are all dedicated to creating a beautiful product. We use a very high quality wool felt blend fabric that is both durable and beautiful. All of our toys are designed for children to actually play with. Everything is sewn securely and nothing is glued. These are meant to be played with and loved. All of my creations are tested by my favorite helpers, my children Richie (8) and Lilly (4) along with friends and family. If something doesn't seem to be holding up or they think it needs improvement, I change the product to fit their needs.
Q: Are you interested in selling your patterns in the future?
A: You hit the nail on the head! I am in the process of changing my website right now to focus on 2 areas 1: play food 2: Make your own. I will be selling kits, patterns and fabric . Look for this change in a few weeks.
Q: What exactly is in the wool blend that you use to create the wool felt play food? Are you planning to do 100% wool felt in the future?
A: A: Much of the felt that I use is high quality blend of wool and rayon, but I am increasing the number of items made with 100% wool all the time. The company that I purchase felt from currently has 12 colors available in 100% wool (6 of the 12 just became available last month). Due to increasing demand for 100% wool the company believes that they will continue to offer more colors every year. They have over 70 colors in the blend fabric! As the new colors become available I will be switching to 100%...some of my products already are. You should also know that my felt supplier is in the U.S.
Q: I was wondering what you thought about bamboo fill which is supposed to be a safer alternative to poly fill.
A: I do use poly fill but I am looking for an alternative. I would love to use wool, but haven't found a cost effective way to do this yet, but I'm still searching. From what I heard about bamboo, the process used to create the fibers puts more pollution in the air and uses more energy than poly fill. But actually, after doing some more research on this, it seems that this only applies to bamboo clothing and that the fiber fill is actually a very good alternative. I am going to look for a supplier immediately. Thanks for the suggestion!
Q: I somehow do feel a little guilty to have the luxury of having my kids have such toys like play food when kids all over the world are starving. In the future, would you consider doing something like donating some portions to some charitable group that helps starving children?
A: It is my dream to create a special section on my website: The VIP (very important play food) and have a new food or set featured there every month and all of the profits from that would go to charity. I haven't chosen the charity yet so if your readers have a suggestion, I would love to hear it! I want to have things in place to start the VIP section soon after. Just e-mail me at hilary@lillybeanmarket.com and title it "charity suggestion."
Q: Ever since I've seen your website, I've been fascinated with wool felt play food.
I've also noticed that there is a proliferation of interest of felt play food all around. I found many people selling their own in their Esty/ on-line stores and even various patterns/manuals so that you could make you own. How did your company get started?
A: When I started making wool felt play food over four years ago, no one was making it. I thought, how silly, this (stuffed play food) is an awesome product. So much nicer than the hard plastic stuff. I did searches on the internet to see if others were making stuffed play food and I found nothing. Then two years later, my husband filed for divorce and I, a stay a home mom was jobless. I got a job right away, but a friend pointed to the basket of play food in the corner and said, "You know, those are really cute. Everyone likes them. You should sell them" so I did! I started selling on Etsy. It was a hit. Boutiques and specialty toy stores started emailing me and I was able to quit my job. Let me make it clear that I am in no way a rich woman, but I can pay my bills and am able to stay home with my children.
Q: What makes Lilly Bean different from all other wool felt play food companies?
A:Well, for one thing we plan on staying in the US. We are in small scale production right now. We basically go about this the old fashion way--no fancy equipment, no factory, no overworked employees. Everything is worked on one at a time by hand. A small group of Amish woman and a machine seamstress help with all of the production. I still sew every day too. I have a personal friendship with the Amish women that work with me and it is absolutely wonderful to be able spend time with them. We are all dedicated to creating a beautiful product. We use a very high quality wool felt blend fabric that is both durable and beautiful. All of our toys are designed for children to actually play with. Everything is sewn securely and nothing is glued. These are meant to be played with and loved. All of my creations are tested by my favorite helpers, my children Richie (8) and Lilly (4) along with friends and family. If something doesn't seem to be holding up or they think it needs improvement, I change the product to fit their needs.
Q: Are you interested in selling your patterns in the future?
A: You hit the nail on the head! I am in the process of changing my website right now to focus on 2 areas 1: play food 2: Make your own. I will be selling kits, patterns and fabric . Look for this change in a few weeks.
Q: What exactly is in the wool blend that you use to create the wool felt play food? Are you planning to do 100% wool felt in the future?
A: A: Much of the felt that I use is high quality blend of wool and rayon, but I am increasing the number of items made with 100% wool all the time. The company that I purchase felt from currently has 12 colors available in 100% wool (6 of the 12 just became available last month). Due to increasing demand for 100% wool the company believes that they will continue to offer more colors every year. They have over 70 colors in the blend fabric! As the new colors become available I will be switching to 100%...some of my products already are. You should also know that my felt supplier is in the U.S.
Q: I was wondering what you thought about bamboo fill which is supposed to be a safer alternative to poly fill.
A: I do use poly fill but I am looking for an alternative. I would love to use wool, but haven't found a cost effective way to do this yet, but I'm still searching. From what I heard about bamboo, the process used to create the fibers puts more pollution in the air and uses more energy than poly fill. But actually, after doing some more research on this, it seems that this only applies to bamboo clothing and that the fiber fill is actually a very good alternative. I am going to look for a supplier immediately. Thanks for the suggestion!
Q: I somehow do feel a little guilty to have the luxury of having my kids have such toys like play food when kids all over the world are starving. In the future, would you consider doing something like donating some portions to some charitable group that helps starving children?
A: It is my dream to create a special section on my website: The VIP (very important play food) and have a new food or set featured there every month and all of the profits from that would go to charity. I haven't chosen the charity yet so if your readers have a suggestion, I would love to hear it! I want to have things in place to start the VIP section soon after. Just e-mail me at hilary@lillybeanmarket.com and title it "charity suggestion."
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