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In app, icon, and UI/UX design, "custom" means the visual and interaction work is created for one specific product or brand rather than adapted from a template, stock asset, or generic UI kit. It is worth pursuing when your interface or identity is part of what differentiates you — for example, a distinctive app icon that must read at small sizes, or a workflow that no existing pattern fits. It is usually not worth it when you need a standard, well-understood screen (a settings list, a login form) on a tight timeline.

What "custom" covers in each area

The Iconfactory describes itself as crafting "icons, apps, and user experiences for clients large and small" over more than 25 years — a scope that spans all four rows above, which is why "custom" in this field is rarely just one asset.

Custom vs. templates, stock assets, and UI kits

The practical difference is not quality — it is fit and ownership.

• Templates and UI kits give you a proven starting point. You trade distinctiveness and some control for speed and lower cost.
• Stock assets (icons, illustrations, fonts) are licensed for reuse. They can look right but may appear in competing products.
• Custom work is made for your constraints: your content lengths, your platform, your brand voice, your edge cases.

A useful test: if a competitor could drop in the same asset and nothing would feel wrong, it is probably not custom in any meaningful sense.

When custom design adds real value

Custom work tends to pay off when at least one of these is true:

• The icon is a primary brand touchpoint. App icons compete at very small sizes; a generic glyph gets lost.
• Your workflow differs from the norm. If users do something no standard pattern handles, a custom flow removes friction instead of forcing users into the wrong model.
• Consistency across many screens matters. A defined system (type scale, spacing, component rules) prevents drift as the product grows.
• You are in a crowded category. Distinctiveness is the point.

When off-the-shelf is the better call

• You need a standard, low-risk screen quickly (forms, lists, settings).
• You are validating an idea and expect the interface to change.
• Your budget is better spent on function than on visual identity.
• The platform's own conventions already serve users well.

These are conditions, not verdicts — a project can mix both, using a UI kit for structure and custom work for the icon and key moments.

A typical custom design process

1. Brief. Goals, audience, platforms, constraints, and what "done" looks like.
2. Research and references. Competitors, platform guidelines, and existing brand assets.
3. Concepts. A small number of distinct directions, not many variations of one.
4. Refinement. Chosen direction developed across real sizes and states.
5. Delivery. Final assets plus the rules for using them.
6. Verification. Check the icon at small sizes and in real contexts; check screens against actual content, not placeholder text.

Common pitfalls

• Scope creep. "Custom" quietly expands from one icon to a full system. Agree on deliverables up front.
• Unclear ownership. Confirm who owns the files and how they may be reused before work starts.
• Inconsistent branding. Custom assets applied without a system drift apart over time.
• Designing without real content. Placeholder text hides the problems custom work is meant to solve.

If you can state which touchpoints must be custom, which can stay standard, and who owns the result, you have enough to decide — and enough to brief the work.

Embroidery is the craft of decorating fabric with needle and thread, and it is the foundation technique behind many of the patterns sold by Bareroots, a design studio run by Barri Sue Gaudet. If you can thread a needle and make a simple straight stitch, you already have the core skill. This guide explains what embroidery is, how it differs from appliqué, wool felt work, and quilting, what supplies you need, and how to choose a first project.

Embroidery and its close relatives

These four techniques are often used together in the same project, which is why they get confused. The distinction comes down to what the needle and thread are actually doing.

The overlap is real: a Bareroots pattern for a pillow might combine an appliqué shape, embroidery stitches for detail, and quilting to hold the layers together. Learning embroidery first gives you the stitch vocabulary that the other techniques build on.

Where embroidery fits in Bareroots designs

Bareroots describes its catalog as embroidery and appliqué patterns for quilts, pillows, candle mats, and more. That range shows how embroidery functions in practice — it is rarely the whole object. It is the detailing that turns a plain fabric shape into a finished piece: the outline of a motif, the lettering on a pillow, the small accents on a candle mat.

Core supplies for hand embroidery

You do not need much to start. The four essentials are:

• Needles — embroidery or chenille needles with a large enough eye for floss. A basic assortment covers most projects.
• Floss — six-strand embroidery floss is the standard. You separate the strands and use as many as the pattern calls for.
• Fabric — a firmly woven cotton or linen holds stitches well. Wool felt is also common in Bareroots-style work.
• Hoop — holds the fabric taut so stitches stay even. A 4- to 6-inch hoop suits small motifs and candle mats.

Scissors, a water-soluble or heat-erasable marking pen, and a way to transfer your pattern round out the kit.

Basic stitches and how patterns get onto fabric

Most beginner patterns rely on a small set of stitches:

• Running stitch — a simple in-and-out line, the basis of many outlines.
• Backstitch — connected stitches that form a solid, unbroken line for outlines and lettering.
• Satin stitch — closely packed straight stitches that fill a shape.
• French knot — a wrapped knot that adds a dot of texture, common for flower centers and eyes.
• Blanket stitch — a looped edge stitch often used to finish appliqué shapes and felt edges.

Transferring a pattern

You need the design on the fabric before you stitch. Common methods:

1. Trace with a light source — tape the pattern and fabric to a window or use a light box, then trace with a marking pen.
2. Transfer pen or pencil — draw on the back of the pattern and iron or rub it onto the fabric, following the product's instructions.
3. Water-soluble stabilizer — print or draw the design on the stabilizer, stick it to the fabric, stitch through it, then rinse it away.

Test any marking method on a scrap of your actual fabric first, since some pens behave differently on wool felt than on cotton.

A sensible first project

Pick something small and flat so you finish it and see the result. A candle mat or a small pillow front is ideal — both appear in the Bareroots catalog and both use a limited number of stitches.

A practical first task: choose a pattern with one central motif, transfer it to a square of cotton, and work only the outline in backstitch before adding any fill stitches. This isolates the two skills that matter most at the start — even tension and clean line work — without the complexity of a full quilt.

For beginner-friendly patterns, look for designs labeled as small projects or single motifs rather than full quilts. Bareroots patterns for candle mats and pillows fit this description, and the studio's focus on embroidery, appliqué, and wool felt means its designs are built around the techniques covered here.