Backus Design Works
New Mexico
A small craft studio that repairs stuffed animals and soft sculpture, originally set up to cover warranty work on its own 'MY KIDS' toys and now taking in other makers' items too. You email photos first, they propose a replacement fabric, and stuffing is replaced with polyester fibre fill unless you ask about other options.
Getting hold of them
Email is the way in. They do not take cold calls.
If it gets lost
Not stated
This is a blank on their page, not an answer from them. We have never asked anybody in this trade the question. Of the 185 businesses we have read, 4 have written anything down about losing an item: 2 say it is insured, 2 say the risk is yours. The other 181 are silent, and silence is not a policy either way.
If you would rather not have to phrase it
“Before I send it, can I ask what happens if it gets lost or damaged while it’s with you? I’m not trying to catch you out, it just can’t be replaced. Whatever the answer is, could you put it in an email so I’ve got it in writing?”
“No, we don’t cover it” is a fine answer to get. It tells you to insure the mail yourself for the full amount, both ways.
Nobody has told us who covers the outward leg. Ask, because that is the half people forget.
If it is lost or damaged
Their website does not say what happens if your item is lost or damaged while they have it.
Ask before you post anything you could not replace. Only four of the businesses we hold publish an answer to this.
What they take on
- Full restoration and rebuilds
- Mending and seams
- Restuffing
Works in modern synthetic plush.
What they won’t do
The part every other directory leaves out. None of this is a criticism. It is how you avoid three wasted weeks.
- Doesn't say whether you can bring it in person
Their exact words on what they refuse
Quoted from their own pages, unedited, because a paraphrase of a refusal is the kind of thing you find out was wrong three weeks in.
- “If some items come with previous repairs, we will usually not work on that animal unless it’s structurally unsound or per your request.”
- “*Some items may not be repairable, and we cannot guarantee an exact color match.”
Getting it there
- Takes work by mail
- Doesn’t say whether you can bring it in
- Comes back standard
Money
- Quotes from photographs, for a fee
Anything else they say
- We originally set this service up to provide warranty work on animals and soft sculpture sold under the ‘MY KIDS’ label. We have limited scraps from past projects and can possibly match the original material on those items.
- We also repair items from other manufacturers!
- In the spring of 1983 and 1984 the Denver Museum of Natural History held month long Teddy Bears Affairs.
- We will then contact you with a photo of the proposed fabric before beginning the repair.
- Based in New Mexico. Available across the U.S.
- Hours Monday – Friday MST 9am – 8pm
- The repair page's before-and-after gallery is still unfilled template text: THIS SPOT IS FOR YOUR BEFORE ITEM! THIS SPOT IS FOR YOUR AFTER ITEM!