Filed under: in my studio | Tags: beware buttons, button eyes, cuddly toys, eco motives, Eco range, EU regulations, lanolin, soft toys, toy beaurocracy, vintage buttons, wool
The button police
OH DEAR. I’m feeling rather guilty and a bit forlorn. I’ve just been contacted by a certain on line shop as to whether my Hamish, Clarris’s and Lobelias are approved by the… (regulators of such things) as child’s toys. I had a sneaky suspicion this issue was lurking in some back alley waiting to pounce. The aspects, I suspect, which might be highlighted as desperately dangerous for child health will be button eyes and apparently lanolin content in wool, but my button eyes are quirky and lovely and unusual and very thoroughly sewn on. I don’t want to attach some tepid fluff version for babies. Anyhow, I ate a 2 pence piece when I was a baby and Ruben ate a pin and they passed right through! And lanolin? What’s that about? Can someone please clarify? Human beings have been wearing wool since before they were upright, is it an eczema thing?
OK (she says with a resigned sigh) I’m going to have to consult with the powers that be. I suspect they may have to be labelled not for under 3’s as I am not prepared to sanitize and dilute interesting and quirky art/craft for bureaucratic pacification. I suppose I could always adapt the toys for baby munchers if need be.
Anyone else got any experience on this matter. Advice please?
On to a brighter note…my Eco motives order is now finished. Hurray! So I’m going to give you a wee exhibition of all items including the dreadfully dangerous, buttonoxious, lanoliscious soft toys. Aaaaaagh
Leaf Coffee cosy
Grass Coffee cosy
Berry Coffee cosy
and the back (of the grass one)
Berry cushions
Grass cushions
Leaf cushions
Clarris (Beware the eyes!)
Diedre (Beware the brush of a wool crest!)
Hamish (beware the point of a woollen ear!)
Lobelia (beware pink!)
Seamus (beware lanolin!)
Berry tea cosy
Grass tea cosy
Leaf tea cosy
Wrap, table runner or bed runner. Versatility rules OK.
and another one.
So, if any of you just can’t resist then all will be available at an online store called Eco motives which should be up and running shortly. I’ll keep you posted on that one or give me a ring/ send me an email and I’ll make something up for you.
Oh, and forgive my sarcasm, I know, ‘It’s the lowest form of humour’.
x Sarah
9 Comments so far
Leave a comment
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <pre> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
hi sarah, i am so pleased to have discovered your blog, i was showing it to my husband the other evening while we were watching an old episode of ‘coast’ that was covering the west coast of scotland!. anyway, soft toy safety testing is a real kettle of fish, and mostly covered by your local trading standards department. you may, however, not want to contact them, as when it comes to areas of art and design, they are not very well informed to say the least!. from my experience, if you have one particular design you wanted to market, you can have it laboratory tested, which will cover strength of seems, flammability, etc, there are places in the uk that do this but it can be quite costly (there is a company called ‘noo noo’ who specialise in pure wool comfort blankets and toys who have very much gone down the child safety route, their website has some info covering what they have had done).
with the things that i make, i am veering away from using the word ‘toy’ altogether, preferring something like soft sculpture instead, implying it is something more ornamental. but just to be on the safe side, as like you, as a child i also swallowed a coin, i use really tiny buttons for eyes. hope that helps!
i love your work by the way : )
Comment by lucykate crafts... November 10, 2008 @ 11:35 pmoh, forgot to mention, the lanolin thing may be due to things like toxicity(!), allergic reactions, that kind of thing, particularly if it is a toy a child may cuddle.
Comment by lucykate crafts... November 10, 2008 @ 11:38 pmDon’t apologize for sarcasm, it’s what keeps me going in this world! haha! Lanolin is supposed to be good. I can’t imagine kids would be allergic or anything….
Anyway, everything here is amazing. You have impeccable craftsmanship! I need me a coffee cozy, too. I think it’ll inspire me to use my French press (or cafetiere!) more often
And the pleated pillows. Love!
“wool crest” hahahahaha! A good post to read when you’re ready to fall over, for sure.
Comment by Brittany November 11, 2008 @ 12:34 amI posted about this very thing a few weeks ago. I can’t really help you as I chose to stop making toys (there was someone in England last year had her stock impounded in a pre-Christmas trading standards raid)
Comment by snapdragonjane November 11, 2008 @ 8:28 amI asked about at the time and potential problems were my use of wool,& recycled fabrics. I didn’t even use buttons! Seemingly it wasn’t even enough to sew a label on.
However – the CE process is meant to be simple and it is self certification I think – and may be worth it if you make a lot of the same thing.
good luck,
J
x
Do some research to cover yourself.
Comment by Gigibird November 11, 2008 @ 9:04 amPersonally I couldn’t let a child near any of your lovely creations as they are far too nice for yukky kids to cover them with snot and stuff. I am sure most of them are sold to adults who have never grown up fully…..
I found your sarcasm very appealing!
Comment by peppermintpatcher November 11, 2008 @ 11:34 ami just get so frustrated. so soon we wont be able to buy a fork without a warning and age limit.
Comment by joniphippin November 11, 2008 @ 8:32 pmlanolin can irritate some people, but you can still buy woolen jumpers with no ‘do not wear near children or allergy sufferers’ on them. anyone with a lanolin allergy would know to avoid real wool.
As for the eyes – they would be an issue for children’s toys. To avoid this mark somewhere on your packaging/label ‘this is not a toy’.
Hi Sarah,
Comment by Sadie November 13, 2008 @ 3:49 pmFabulous collection. Do babies not wear wollen cardigans with buttons anymore? Are all these Grannies lovingly knitting for grandchildren on the most wanted list these days? Just mark them ‘not to be sold to the wool police, only loving wool friendly families allowed to adopt’ (No animal testing Please!) Sadie x
FREE
Comment by Sadie November 13, 2008 @ 4:29 pmSeamus, Lobelia, Hamish, Diedre and Clarris from eye and skin testing (eye testing very painful). All signatures welcome
Sadie