KUALA LUMPUR, March 7 -- Sure, a store-bought gift is the most convenient but what is more meaningful than something you make yourself? That is why Jayson Lim and Pan Lai Kwan, the husband and wife team behind Pupurin, came up with a D-I-Y handmade doll kit.
Pan, better known as Panpan, started a design company together with her husband a few years back when they decided to come up with their own character design.
Lim’s family owns a children’s wear shop so there was plenty of leftover fabric available.
The couple then decided to make use of the fabric to sew handmade dolls. In 2011, Pupurin was born with their first series of characters, Petty Pet.
Because they are cat lovers themselves, the Petty Pet series consists of pet characters such as a dog, cat, hamster, frog and rabbit.
“When we first started, my sewing wasn’t that great. My husband was in charge of illustration and he would draw the patterns of the characters. In the beginning, it was free style, the characters did not have proper shapes but over time we improved with more geometric shapes,” said Panpan.
After Petty Pet, Pupurin released the Meow Puff series which was inspired by their two pet cats. The 3D cat heads can be sewn as keychains or handphone charms.
“It takes about two hours for beginners to complete a Pupurin handmade doll from the kit,” said Panpan. After Meow Puff, the Sleeping Petty Pet series was released. The Sleeping Petty Pet series includes the same characters from the original series but the fabric used is felt instead.
Lim and Panpan then released the Silly Shape series that consists of hearts and stars. But it was Pupumon, Pupurin’s monster series, that became really popular.
Named Cheery, Merry, Sorry, Worry and Angry, Pupumons are mood-based monsters that are quirky and adorable. You can also find Pupumons at selected Parkson and Times bookstores as well as Pipit Zakka.
“We created Pupurin to encourage people to make handmade dolls themselves but some people prefer ready-made items because they don’t have time,” said Panpan.
When they first started, Lim and Panpan would participate in art bazaars to promote the D-I-Y handmade doll kits. Over time, the demand for the kits became more popular and they decided to source elsewhere for more fabrics.
Eventually, they have plans to create Pupurin merchandise such as tote bags and T-shirts. Currently, Pupurin has its own animation and comic series on their website and social media pages.
“We also have an Etsy page so that international buyers can purchase Pupurin products. Next, we will have an Etsy page to sell Pupurin prints and illustrations,” said Panpan.
So far, things have been going well for the couple. They have received orders from as far as South Africa!
Surprisingly, customers of Pupurin are not limited to mothers and children. Panpan said they have quite a large number of male customers as well.
Clearly, there are no age or gender limits when it comes to Pupurin D-I-Y handmade dolls.
Priced from RM5 for extra fabric up to RM50, Pupurin’s products are affordable and they make awesome gifts.
“Just try it out. You may not know whether you like it or not. A customer of mine was not interested in sewing until she tried making one of our Pupurin characters. After that, she discovered her love for sewing and she started making high quality bags!” said Panpan.
Find out more about Pupurin at www.pupurin.com and check out their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/hellopupurin. You can watch video tutorials at www.youtube.com/hellopupurin.
This story was first published in Crave in the print edition of The Malay Mail on March 6, 2014.
