About FLATOUTbear.

For over 20 years, sisters Sarah and Prue have shared their love of flat bears.
This is the story of the FLATOUTbear - a truly unique teddy bear.

Welcome to the FLATOUTbear family

In 2001, sisters from Sydney Australia, Sarah and Prue teamed up to create FLATOUTbear and share their love of flat bears with the world. Who doesn’t love a teddy bear?

Having grown up with flat bears of their own as children, flat teddies have always been part of their lives – as has retail. As babies they watched their dad work in his antique shop and then later saw their mum run her homewares shop. It seemed only natural that one day they would start their own business together.

FLATOUTbears has grown from an online store, to supplying retailers all over the world. With over 400,000 bears sold, FLATOUTbears have travelled to over 50 countries including the USA, UK, China, Japan, Denmark, Sweden, France, Hong Kong, Italy, New Zealand and Korea – just to name a few!

Prue and Sarah founded the best flat teddy bear FLATOUTbear

Where do FLATOUTbears come from?

FLATOUTbear best baby newborn gift soft cuddly safe and soothing teddy bear

In Sydney, Australia, two sisters had a great idea…

FLATOUTbear best baby newborn gift soft cuddly safe and soothing teddy bear

… to share their love of Australian sheepskin bears with the world…

FLATOUTbear best baby newborn gift soft cuddly safe and soothing teddy bear

… and in 2001, the original FLATOUTbear was born!

FLATOUTbear best baby newborn gift soft cuddly safe and soothing teddy bear

First, the sheepskins are sent to our factory in China to be tanned…

FLATOUTbear best baby newborn gift soft cuddly safe and soothing teddy bear

… then each FLATOUTbear is cut out by hand – so every bear unique.

FLATOUTbear best baby newborn gift soft cuddly safe and soothing teddy bear

Matching skins are then sewn together by hand.

FLATOUTbear best baby newborn gift soft cuddly safe and soothing teddy bear

The bears are carefully checked before being packed…

FLATOUTbear best baby newborn gift soft cuddly safe and soothing teddy bear

… and sent to our FLATOUTbear HQ in Sydney, Australia…

FLATOUTbear best baby newborn gift soft cuddly safe and soothing teddy bear

… where each bear is checked again and groomed.

FLATOUTbear best baby newborn gift soft cuddly safe and soothing teddy bear

Our warehouse team lovingly pack each FLATOUTbear…

FLATOUTbear best baby newborn gift soft cuddly safe and soothing teddy bear

… and send it to you, wherever you are in the world…

FLATOUTbear best baby newborn gift soft cuddly safe and soothing teddy bear

… to become baby’s new best friend!

Buy a bear

Meet the FLATOUTbear team

Prue Trollope

Starting FLATOUTbears in 2001 was a great way to ease myself back into Australian life after two years working in Asia. Our business is fun, exciting, sometimes hard work but it’s something we’ve created together and fits with my lifestyle and growing family. I work mainly on strategy, order fulfilment and international markets. I love how the FLATOUTbear is now an iconic teddy bear that makes an impact on people’s lives – my two kids won’t sleep without their bears, so I know first hand, that they truly do work!

Sarah Novati in FLATOUTbear

Sarah Novati

Owning and running FLATOUTbears is my little bit of sanity in my otherwise chaotic family life. I love it. I love coming to work, dealing with our lovely customers and sending our gorgeous bears out all over the world. I work mainly on the operations and day to day running of our business. We have a great all-female, dynamic team and we all work hard together, have a laugh and achieve a lot. To think our bears are sold all over the world – from Tokyo, to Hong Kong, Paris to London… wow!

FLATOUTbear all women

The Warehouse Team

We couldn’t manage without our amazing team of fabulous, local women. Anna and Maria are our right hands in the office, processing orders and getting on top everything. Jo and Marissa pack the bears and get them ready to send out. They take great care in combing their fur, checking their little faces and making sure they are ready for their new homes. We work hard but always manage to have a little fun (and cake) at work too!

FLATOUTbear best baby newborn gift soft cuddly safe and soothing teddy bear

The Factory Team

We have been working with the same family business in China for over 15 years. The factory is in a remote area of China, a couple of planes rides and long car trips to reach, but it’s a treat to visit. Our highly skilled factory team select the best sheepskins for us (we are very fussy), tan the raw material, hand cut each and every FLATOUTbear, sew them together, then finally check and pack them. We rely on each other and consider ourselves a family.

Your FLATOUTbear purchase helps us support families in Cambodia.

After spending a year in Cambodia as a volunteer, Prue fell in love with the country and its people. When Prue returned to Australia to start FLATOUTbear with her sister Sarah, it was important to keep that connection and support going.

Over the years FLATOUTbear has supported CEDAC, a local, non-government organisation and Australian-run Sunrise Children’s Village.

Through CEDAC, FLATOUTbear has built two childcare centres which run education programmes for both adults and children. The centres, run by local staff, provide a place where pre-school children can play, learn, borrow books and local families can meet for health education and to discuss local issues with their community.

In 2020,  in partnership with CEDAC we funded the building of 4 wells, to provide households with clean water for their homes and land. One well usually benefits around 15-20 households. Building these wells made such a big impact on a several small communities. Prue visited some of the wells in 2023 and it was a privilege to be there and see the impact these wells have made. Here is a little video of Prue’s visit.

2023 and beyond: We are currently fostering a great partnership with Human and Hope Australia (HHA) which is an organisation based in Cambodia with strong Australian ties. We are super excited about working along side Human and Hope and have committed to the following two projects.

Menstrual Project: With funding from FLATOUTbear, HHA will provide 100 young Cambodian girls with a menstrual kit that is both safe and hygienic, enabling them to manage their periods with ease. The girls will also attend an interactive workshop on the advantages of using the menstrual kit, cleaning, and drying techniques, and the potential risks associated with single-use pads.

Each kit includes three reusable cloth menstrual pads, soap, and a discreet carry-on pouch for washing and storage.

Local female teachers will implement this project in collaboration with HHA’s newly established social enterprise, called the HOPE Sewing Enterprise. The enterprise employs graduates from the sewing program who make the menstrual pads and pouches.

The goal is to support 100 girls from vulnerable families in rural Siem Reap. After the workshop, the project team will monitor the girls’ use of the menstrual kit and solicit regular feedback. They will also offer mentoring and support sessions to address any issues the girls may encounter.

Sewing Project: The sewing project is a new project supporting 6 women with sewing lessons for 12 months. This project will also proved these 6 women and their families with basic food supplies, petrol stipend and business skills. They will also get the change to buy their own sewing machine with a Microfinance loan at the end of the course.

The aim of this project is to move these 6 women and their families out of poverty, re-skill them and improve their standard of living. We can’t wait to share this journey with you.

It’s really exciting to see these projects making an impact and we are proud that each FLATOUTbear purchased supports such a worthy cause.

FLATOUTbear best baby newborn gift soft cuddly safe and soothing teddy bear
FLATOUTbear best baby newborn gift soft cuddly safe and soothing teddy bear
FLATOUTbear best baby newborn gift soft cuddly safe and soothing teddy bear
Buy a bear

The FLATOUTbear story...

Learn more about who and what inspired us to create FLATOUTbear with our videos below.

Watch on YouTube

Family owned and run since 2001

100% Australian sheepskin

Over 400,000 bears sold worldwide

Free FLATOUTbear bag with purchase

Helping Cambodian families