About us

Willing Barkis Dolls are sewn by us in small batches with every part of the process stitched or knitted here in the UK :)
Every doll is different and individually handmade and named. Our homespun dolls are stitched from beautiful natural materials making them tactile and comforting 🌱
They all have a lovely head of hand knitted mohair yarn hair.
We believe it's worth the trouble to make dolls that will last and survive all that loving from your little ones xx
So...
*We use the very best materials - pure cottons and linens printed with safe pigments and good quality mohair yarn.
*We use double layered doll jersey for their heads and calico backed cottons and linens for their bodies.
*We reinforce the seams too.

Hi!
I'm Suzy, the designer maker behind Willing Barkis. I'm a mum of two and started working freelance when they were small. We live in Northern Ireland in an old house we are very slowly restoring ourselves!
After graduating from St Martin's in London (many years ago!) I worked as a Wedding Dress designer and Printed Textile designer (a few of the tiny florals I designed are still in the Liberty of London classic range and archives today!) As a student I also worked for a year on Savile Row where my passion for hand sewing grew!
When I became a designer for children's wear I made some toys for styling photo shoots and people started asking where they could buy them. So Willing Barkis was born!
Our toys have grown in popularity over the years and often sell out really quickly - but we're always making more.
From the first stitch to the last finishing touch our dolls are handmade entirely in UK before heading to their new homes all over the world.
We hope you love them as much as we do!
Suzy xx