How to Design Your Own Custom Bag (A Simple Guide)
There’s a particular kind of bag that gets noticed — not because it's shouting, but because anyone can tell it's yours. A name, a date, a few words that mean something, stitched in rather than printed on. If you've never designed anything before, it's a lot simpler than it sounds. Here's how it works, and a few ideas to get you started.
Why stitched, not printed
Prints crack, fade, and peel after a few washes. Thread doesn't. A satin-stitch design sits into the canvas properly — it's still there years from now, catching the light the same way it did on day one. That's really the whole idea behind Broidery: nothing leaves our workshop until you've designed it, which means nothing sits around in a warehouse either. It's made for you, when you ask for it.
Designing your bag, step by step
1. Pick your bag and colour.
Every Broidery bag has a dedicated space for your design — usually the front panel or a front pocket, about 100×100mm. Plenty of room for a name, a short phrase, or a word paired with a small icon.
2. Add your words.
Type what you want stitched — a name, a date, a phrase that's entirely yours. Short and punchy tends to sit best: think “Elsie” or “Take it slow” rather than a paragraph. Pick from a handful of fonts and adjust size and position as you go.
3. Choose your thread colours.
Use up to six thread colours in one design, picked from our real embroidery palette — the same threads our machines actually stitch with, so what you see on screen is what you get on the bag. Some of our favourite designs go big with colour; plenty of the best ones use just one or two and let the words do the talking.
4. Add a small icon, if you like one.
A heart, a leaf, a star, an anchor — paired with a word or two, a small icon turns a name into something that feels like a real piece, not just text. Small, personal, and never boring.
5. Check it, then send it off.
Once it looks right, that's it — your design goes to be stitched, made to order, just for you. Nothing existed until you asked for it.
A few ideas, if you're stuck
- A name and a date — a birthday, a wedding, a “we did it”
- A phrase that's entirely yours — the thing you say to yourself on a hard morning
- Initials, paired with a small icon — simple, bold, hard to get wrong
- Something for someone else — a gift bag stitched with their name, not yours, is one of the nicest things you can hand someone
Designing a bag as a gift
A bag with someone's name stitched into it says something a gift receipt never will — that you thought about them, specifically, before you bought anything. It doesn't need to be elaborate. A first name and a small icon is often the whole gift.
Ready to design yours?
Pick a bag, open the designer, and start typing — you'll see your design appear on the bag in real time as you go, so there's no guessing what it'll look like. Made to order, stitched in the UK, and entirely, only yours.