How we hand-embroider a name in our Melbourne studio

Made in Melbourne, made when you order it.

Every Welcomenest piece is hand-embroidered to order in our Melbourne studio. Not warehoused. Not pre-stitched. The day you place the order is the day the maker sets the hoop, threads the colour you chose, and begins stitching your child's name on the bag, towel or comforter you picked.

Here's what happens between your order and your door.

Day 1 — the studio table

Your order lands. The studio prints the embroidery brief: name, thread colour, script style, position on the piece. The maker pulls the matching thread cone from the colour wall — sage, blush, clay, oat, cream or ink — and the chosen base piece from the made-to-order shelf. Everything checked twice before the hoop comes out.

Day 2-3 — the stitch

The piece is mounted on the embroidery machine, the script style — block, script, or modern — is loaded, and the name is stitched. Each letter is two thousand needle passes of GOTS-certified cotton thread, set into the fabric so the name will outlast the piece itself.

Day 4 — quality check

A second pair of eyes checks stitch tension, finish, and pack. No piece leaves the studio without this step. If anything reads off — a loop, a missed letter, an uneven thread — it goes back to the hoop.

Day 5-7 — to your door

Wrapped in cream tissue, into a kraft box, into the post. Express to most metro areas in 2-3 days, regional in 3-5. Free shipping on orders over $75 Australia-wide.

Why made-to-order, and not made-to-stock

Three reasons. First, the personalisation: every piece is unique to one child, so warehousing finished goods doesn't work. Second, the waste: end-of-season surplus is the children's clothing industry's worst-kept secret — we'd rather start each piece on demand than discount last year's run. Third, the keepsake economics: pieces with names on them get kept. They go to school, come home, get passed down.

Five colours, three scripts, one studio

The thread palette is deliberately narrow. Sage, blush, clay, oat, cream, ink — colours that work across the range and hold their saturation through hundreds of washes. The three script styles — block, script, modern — are the foundation forms of children's name embroidery; they read at a glance, they age well, and they sit beautifully on cotton, terry and linen.

Behind the studio

The studio sits in inner-north Melbourne. The thread library, the hoop wall, the cutting table. The makers are working machinists with experience across childrenswear and textile craft. Visit by appointment if you're local — we're happy to walk you through.

Start your piece: browse the studio, type a name, pick a thread, and we'll start the day you order.