Handmade Toys

Handmade textile toys bring together traditional sewing techniques, carefully selected materials and designs that leave room for children's imagination.

Wool felt is particularly suitable for creating soft animal figures. Its dense structure allows shapes to be cut and assembled without fraying, while stitching and embroidery provide the details that give each character its identity.

Simple textile figures can be used in different ways, allowing children to invent characters, create stories and develop their own games without predetermined rules.

Textile Design in Corsica

Based in Haute-Corse, France, Manon Balberg is an artist and designer specialising in handmade wool felt toys and decorative objects.

Trained in art and design, she founded Balberg Shop around an approach to toy-making that combines traditional textile techniques with contemporary design.

Her collection includes horses, donkeys, sheep and animals associated with Corsica, including the mouflon and wild boar. She also creates mobiles, rattles and decorative objects for children's rooms.

Each piece is cut, sewn, embroidered and felted by hand in her Corsican workshop.

Natural Materials and Open-Ended Play

Balberg works with pure wool felt, cotton thread and natural wool stuffing. Her Corsican donkey, for example, uses undyed merino wool that retains the natural colours of the sheep's fleece.

Her designs follow the principles of slow design, favouring durable materials, careful production and objects intended for repeated use.

An important part of her approach is open-ended play. Rather than assigning a fixed activity to each toy, the animal figures can become characters in stories, companions in imaginative games or part of a child's own collection.

Balberg also shares her textile techniques through online workshops, introducing participants to the methods used in her studio.

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