Happy Sleepies

Handmade and embroidered one of a kind textile sculpture. Since 2001

Happy Sleepy, a stuffed toy made by Magda Wojtyra, posed with matching plants with pink dots on the leaves.

Happy Sleepies look like they have smiling eyes and upside down their eyes look sealed with sleep.

Whether happily proactive or sleepily withdrawn, they are avatars of our freedom to choose.

Happy Sleepy Traveler series in the garden

"We who lived in concentration camps can remember those who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken... but one thing: the last of the human freedoms — to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
– Victor Frankl

Happy Sleepies are enlightened beings because they always remember their freedom to choose how to be. They can zoom around in excited high energy or dream in restful slumber or choose to feel anything in between whenever they want. An example of an alternative to the happy-sad dichotomy.

Instead of bouncing between states of existence imposed by the outside world, everyone can generate from inside a choice of at least a proactive or reserved attitude towards external life circumstances. We can all learn to be internally, emotionally grounded and in that way always have a sense of agency in our lives.

The first Happy Sleepy made in 2005. Well, that's Sleepy on the left and Happy on the right, and really they are one. The pattern has been perfected over the years, and the myth has grown in depth and detail. See many more fabrics and styles on the Happy Sleepies page.

The first Happy Sleepy was made in 2005 based on a drawing by Marc Ngui.

The pattern has been perfected over the years to be ever curvier and bouncier and full of energy.

Happy Sleepy Bolt resting under a palm tree on the beach in Bocas del Toro, Panama, 2014.

Making Happy Sleepies

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We make things according to rules of luxury and sustainability, shunning waste. For example, the fabrics we use are very high quality, often 100% silk brocade or wool and yet usually come from mill end rolls or from industry cut offs. The designs are sometimes the result of piecing together scraps from our own work - little is wasted and the result is unique.