Five British Butterflies: Meet my new dolls

This new collection has been in the cocoon a long time. My passion is to develop children’s imaginations and spark creative play through my dolls.

By teaching our next generation the names of their trees, flowers and creatures; they will come to know them and love them. As adults they will want to conserve and nuture them and work to protect our world!

With these butterfly dolls children can combine whimsical play, outdoor exploration and learning!

I spent some time deciding which five species to start the collection with – the criteria was:

• Common, so that children had a chance of finding them in the UK
• A range of colours to appeal to different little ones
• My own ability to make them!

With help from the Big Butterfly Count, using their survey findings and spotter guides, I selected five butterflies; brimstone, holly blue, gatekeeper, large white and red admiral .

Each doll is made by hand the traditional way in my home studio in Kent. Each doll is as individual as your child – as toys used to be.

The butterfly doll has detachable wings – simply pull the doll out of the soft scrunchie – and then the little doll could be a caterpillar! The wings are layers of felt individually cut by hand and then carefully machine appliquéd on for strength – not glued!

With the butterfly is an accompanying double sided fact card – on the front is a botanical illustration showing the butterfly. Turn over the card and on the back are child-friendly facts to help them discover more and a size chart so you can see how big the butterfly is!

Each butterfly will arrive in a beautiful gift box with the fact card on the front – unwrapping will add charm to the gifting experience and making it a truly memorable moment – whilst being child friendly to open!

Made using sustainable materials; the wings are made from pure wool felt, with the doll having British sheep wool filling and soft cotton outer.

You can order your handmade butterfly doll  – and help your little one learn about their native species through play.