A hug you can hold, with a pocket for the things worth keeping.
A Bippie is a hug you can hold. It is a soft, pillow-shaped comfort companion, handmade from certified organic cotton and filled with kapok, with a face that is stitched rather than glued and a hidden pocket sewn into its back. It is made for the ages when a child needs something to hold onto, and it is made well enough to still be there when they are grown.
That is the short answer. The longer one is a family story.
Where the Bippie came from
The first Bippie was sewn by hand in the 1970s, by a family friend, for two little girls who needed comforting. It was not a product. There was no pattern and no plan, just a soft thing made with love, with a pocket on the back because a child should have somewhere to keep a secret. It was hugged through everything, and somewhere along the way it got the name it has kept ever since: Bippie. It was loved so completely that it did not survive. A photograph did, and so did everything it started.
Every Bippie we make today keeps that first one's promise. Same shape, same pocket, same idea: one soft companion, made to be beloved. You can read the whole story on Our Story.
What a Bippie is made of
The outside is certified organic cotton, dyed with non-toxic, eco-friendly dyes. The inside is kapok, a silky plant fiber harvested from the seed pods of the kapok tree. Kapok is naturally hypoallergenic and softer than most synthetic fills, and it is what gives a Bippie its pillowy give.
The eyes, the smile, and the small heart on the back pocket are all embroidered. There are no plastic eyes, no buttons, no glued-on parts, nothing that can come loose. A Bippie is suitable from birth. We go through every material on Materials & Safety.
The hidden pocket
Turn a Bippie over and you will find a pocket stitched into its back, with a small open heart embroidered at the corner. The pocket is the part people remember. It is just the right size for a folded note, a first drawing, a photograph, a wish written before bed. Families use it in ways we never planned, and every one of those becomes part of that Bippie's story.
Every Bippie also arrives with its First Page: a small card with one line handwritten on the front and a record to fill in on the back, ready to be the first thing tucked into the pocket. Bippies ship sealed, so the card rides beside the Bippie in its wrapping, and the family does the first tuck.
Two sizes, four colors
The Bippie is about 13 by 9 inches and 3 inches thick, big enough to double as a pillow. It comes in Canolli Cream, Lamb's Wool, Pastel Blue, and Pink Marshmallow, and it is $65.
The Mini Bippie is about 9.5 by 6 inches, sized for small hands, the car seat, and the diaper bag. It comes in Canolli Cream and Lamb's Wool, and it is $45.
The Bippie Bundle pairs one of each, in any combination of colors, for $99. Each Bippie is handmade, so measurements vary a little from one to the next. We think of that as a feature.
Who a Bippie is for
A newborn, because there is nothing on it that can come loose. A toddler, because it is soft enough to sleep on and sturdy enough to be dragged through a whole childhood. An older child, because the pocket gives them somewhere private to keep what matters. And, quietly, a grown-up. The first Bippie was made fifty years ago, and we are still telling its story. That is the kind of thing we are making.
A note on caring for one
Surface clean with a soft, damp cloth and a little mild soap, then let it air dry. Kapok does not like the washing machine. A well-loved Bippie will soften and settle over the years, the way a good blanket does. That is the point of making one from natural materials.
If you have a question we have not answered here, write to us at info@bippieco.com. We read every note.
Beloved,
The Bippie Co.