How to Commission a Handmade Gift (Without Getting It Wrong)

Commissioning something handmade is one of the best gifts you can give and one of the easiest to get slightly wrong.

The failure mode isn't usually a bad maker. It's a vague brief, a rushed timeline, or a mismatch between what the buyer pictured and what they described. All three are avoidable.

Here's how the process actually works, from someone who's on the making end of it.

Before you commission anything

Know what you're actually buying

A custom handmade piece isn't a product you're purchasing — it's time you're commissioning. Someone will spend hours making a single object that exists only because you asked for it.

That reframing helps with two things. First, it explains the price. Second, it explains the timeline: nothing is sitting on a shelf waiting for you.

Be honest about your deadline

This is the single most common problem.

Handmade pieces take real time to make, and then real time to ship. Our signature designs take about 3–7 business days to make; custom pieces take 7–14. Add delivery — a few days domestically, two to three weeks internationally.

If your event is in ten days and you're ordering internationally, say so upfront. A good maker will tell you honestly whether it's possible rather than take your money and disappoint you. (We'd rather turn down an order than miss a birthday.)

Rule of thumb: contact the maker four to six weeks before you need it. Earlier for Christmas, when every maker is at capacity.

What to send

The quality of a custom piece is limited by the quality of the brief. Here's what genuinely helps:

• Photos, if there's a subject. For a pet, person, or character: three or four clear, well-lit photos from different angles. Natural daylight. Not a blurry action shot, not a heavily filtered one — filters change colours, and we're matching colours.
• Colours you love, and colours to avoid. The second half matters more than people think. "She hates orange" saves everyone a difficult conversation later.
• Rough size. Most people have no idea what "20cm" looks like and that's fine — instead say "about the size of a coffee mug" or "small enough to sit on a desk." Comparisons work better than measurements.
• The occasion and the person. This sounds soft, but it changes decisions. A memorial piece and a baby shower gift are made differently even if they're the same animal.
• Any hard constraints. Allergies, baby-safe requirements, a colour that has to match a specific room.

What to ask before agreeing

A reputable maker will volunteer most of this, but ask if they don't:

• What's the total price, including shipping and any personalisation fees?
• What's the realistic timeline, from today to on-my-doorstep?
• Will I see progress? Many makers share photos partway through — useful for catching a misunderstanding early.
• What happens if I don't like it? Custom work usually can't be returned for change of mind, and that's reasonable — but you should know the policy before you order, not after. (Ours is here.)
• What materials are you using? Relevant for allergies, for washing, and for whether it'll survive a toddler.

The mistakes we see most

Ordering too late. Covered above, but it's genuinely the biggest one.

Sending one bad photo. We can work from limited reference, but the result is limited too.

Not mentioning the deadline until after ordering. If we'd known, we might have prioritised it. Tell us at the start.

Over-specifying, then being disappointed anyway. There's a sweet spot between "make whatever you like" and a three-page specification. Describe the feeling you want and the two or three details that really matter; let the maker solve the rest. That's what you're paying them for.

Expecting a photograph. A handmade piece is an interpretation, not a reproduction. A crochet portrait of a dog captures the dog's character — the shape, the colouring, the expression. It won't have individual whiskers. Knowing that in advance is the difference between delight and disappointment.

What good communication looks like

The best custom orders we've made follow roughly the same shape:

1. The buyer sends photos and a short description of the person and occasion.
2. We reply within a day with what's possible, a price, and a realistic date.
3. We agree on the details before anything starts.
4. We share a progress photo partway through.
5. It ships with tracking, and arrives before the date it's needed.

Nothing about that is complicated. It just requires starting early enough that steps two and three aren't rushed.

A last thought

The reason handmade gifts work isn't that they're handmade. It's that commissioning one requires you to think carefully about someone — what they love, what they'd actually keep, what would make them feel known.

That thinking is the gift. The object is just where it ends up.

Ready to start?

Send us a photo, an idea, or just a description. We'll come back with what's possible, a price, and a timeline before any work begins — no obligation.

Start a custom order →  ·  See how it works →  ·  Email us