Old School Uniforms Become Teddy Bears
Tuesday, October 13, 2026220 words3 minutes411 reads
In Singapore, Siti Nur’ain Awari has turned a family craft into Patchwork Handmade Keepsakes, a home business that makes stuffed animals and quilts from children's old clothes. A mother of four, she first made bears for her three older children and a quilt for her youngest. The objects let her children keep fabrics without storing every outfit.
The idea began when a cousin asked her to make a quilt from her daughter's baby clothes in early 2024. Siti practised before cutting the irreplaceable pieces. After she shared photos, orders began to arrive. She later made bears from her children's old preschool uniforms. School uniform bears became her best-selling product, especially around graduation and school results days.
An ordinary keepsake bear typically uses nine to 12 pieces of clothing, but a school bear can be made from one or two uniform sets. A quilt may use 25 to 80 pieces, depending on its size. Different fabrics can stretch or hold their shape in different ways. Siti measures and joins pieces carefully. She has now transformed thousands of pre-loved children's clothes for other families, CNA reports.
Her work reuses fabric. It gives families an object they can touch while remembering a child's early years. Yet cutting a treasured uniform can feel difficult: Siti recalled fastening those uniforms for her children every day.
