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 comfort companion, handmade from certified organic cotton and filled with natural 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 made to be kept long after.
That is the short answer. The longer one is a family story.
Where the Bippie came from
The first Bippie was made by hand in the 1970s, by a family friend, for two little girls. It was not a product. There was no pattern and no plan, just a soft thing made with love. 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 carries on what that first one started: one soft companion, made to be beloved. We added one thing the first Bippie never had, a pocket on the back for the things worth keeping. You can read the whole story on Our Story.
What a Bippie is made of
The outside is certified organic cotton. The inside is 100% kapok, a silky plant fiber that grows inside the seed pods of the kapok tree. It is light and soft, and it is what gives a Bippie its gentle, squeezable 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, no small parts to come loose. A Bippie is suitable from birth for awake-time cuddles; for the first 12 months, safe-sleep guidance says to keep soft things, Bippies included, out of the crib and sleep space. 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 for tomorrow. Families will use it in ways we never planned, and every one of those becomes part of the family'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 inches long, 10 inches wide (arm tip to arm tip) and 3 inches thick. It comes in Cannoli Cream, Lamb's Wool, Pastel Blue, and Pink Marshmallow, and it is $65.
The Mini Bippie is about 9.5 inches long, 7.5 inches wide and 2.75 inches thick, sized for small hands and an everyday bag. It comes in Cannoli Cream and Lamb's Wool, and it is $45.
The Bippie Bundle pairs one of each, in any combination of colors, for $99. A Bippie and a Mini added to your cart separately come to $99 for both, too. 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 baby, for awake-time cuddles, because there are no small parts on it to come loose. A toddler, because it is soft enough to hug hard and carry everywhere. An older child, because the pocket gives them somewhere to keep what matters. Quietly, a grown-up too. 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. 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.