Meet the Teacher, Mother, and Artisan Behind MorKuzuNY

Hi, I'm Natallia.

I am an elementary school teacher, a mother of two, and the creator behind MorKuzuNY. For me, these three roles are impossible to separate—they are the exact reason this shop exists.

My journey as a maker began long before I entered the classroom. Sewing has been my deepest hobby and passion since I was ten years old.
Twenty years ago, I moved to Istanbul, a historic and wonderfully vibrant city, where I continued to develop my love for textiles and refine my sewing skills.

Years later, that lifelong passion gradually grew into MorKuzuNY.

I studied and worked in education (elementary school teacher), and I think that experience naturally became part of the way I design my toys. I’ve always liked watching how children play—the way they turn a few simple objects into a whole story, a kitchen, a restaurant, a shop, or sometimes something I never imagined at all.

That is one of the reasons I love felt.

It is soft, light, colorful, and wonderfully easy to turn into something that invites children to touch, move, sort, count, pretend, and create. A piece of felt food can become breakfast in one game and the special meal at a pretend restaurant in the next one. I like toys that leave room for that kind of imagination.

I also like making things properly.

I sew rather than glue only. Sewing takes longer, sometimes much longer, but I like knowing how a piece is put together. I choose the colors, prepare the patterns, cut the felt, sew the individual parts, add the small details, and check everything before I pack it. Not to mention, every piece I make is created using premium, child-safe materials in a smoke-free environment.

There are usually quite a few steps involved in something that looks very simple when it is finished.

After thousands of orders within last 6+ years, I’ve learned a lot from the people who buy my work. Parents have told me what their children love, what they use again and again, which little details matter, and sometimes what I could have done better. I’ve learned from questions, messages, reviews, and photos of children playing with things I made in my studio.

Those are probably the most useful lessons I could have received.

People sometimes ask why I don’t simply have everything manufactured. The honest answer is that I could make many more products that way.

But I don’t really want to.

I still make every piece myself. That limits how many I can produce—but it also means every piece gets the same attention.

Sometimes that means a popular item sells out and stays unavailable for a while. Sometimes I have to say no to an order because I simply cannot make it quickly enough. It is not always the easiest way to run a business, but it is the way I want to work.

There is a real person behind every MorKuzuNY order, and I would like to keep it that way.

So, if you’ve found me through Etsy or Amazon, thank you for coming here too. And if this is the first time you’ve discovered MorKuzuNY, I hope you enjoy looking around.

Everything you see here was made with a great deal of time, care, and probably more felt scraps than I would like to admit.

Thank you for visiting my shop, supporting handmade and my small business, and trusting me to be a small part of your child's learning journey.

— Natallia, The Designer & Maker Behind MorKuzuNY

Buy with confidence, as you will receive a handmade item of the highest quality, designed and made with love and with the utmost attention to detail.