Some of our favorite pieces we've ever made didn't start on our website or at a market table. They started with a message — a coworker's spouse who heard about us secondhand, a friend's boss who saw a photo somebody shared, someone who bought a bag from us at Boerne Market Days and came back weeks later with an idea for something more. We're a small, San Antonio, Texas husband-and-wife shop, and every custom order we've made so far has come to us the same way: word of mouth, one person telling another, "you should talk to the Elams about making you something."
We love that. There's something genuinely exciting about a custom order that a ready-made piece just doesn't have — someone out there is waiting on something made specifically for them, and we get to be part of figuring out exactly what that looks like. It's a little like being a kid again, asking mom and dad for something specific and then waiting to see if it actually shows up under the tree — that particular kind of excitement when a wrapped box turns out to be exactly the right size and shape for the one thing you were hoping for. That's the feeling we want someone to have when their custom piece finally arrives.
What a custom order actually looks like
Custom doesn't have to mean starting from a blank page. Some of the best requests we've gotten started with something we already make and simply took it further.
One customer wanted a full matching set — a tote, a makeup bag, and a wallet — all made in their favorite college team's colors and fabric. Instead of three separate pieces picked at random, they got a coordinated set, made to feel like it was designed together, because it was.
Another customer already owned a piece of ours and came back wanting something new that matched it — an additional bag or accessory made in the same fabric and style as what they'd already bought, so the two pieces would feel like part of the same collection rather than two unrelated purchases. That's one of our favorite kinds of request, honestly, because it means someone loved what they had enough to want more of it.
Even at the market table, this kind of thing comes up more than you'd think. Someone will pick up a bag, love the shape, but wish it came in a different color or fabric — and we always let them know that's an easy yes. If you love the shape but not the print, we can fix that.
When it's not quite a custom order, but it's still a collaboration
Not every conversation like this turns into a formal custom order, and one of our favorite stories isn't, technically, one at all. A customer came by our booth looking for a very specific book cover — something particular in mind that we didn't have that day. She ended up buying one that was close, but not quite it. We took that conversation home with us. Over the following weeks, we made several new book covers, and honestly, they turned out better than our original design — small improvements we might not have thought to make without her pointing us in that direction. We brought them to our next market, and she came back and bought a second one. Our first repeat customer, and a book cover that's better today because someone told us what she was actually looking for.
That's the same spirit as a custom order, even without the label. Somebody tells us what they're picturing, and we get to go make it real.
Chris actually taught Total Quality Management for 18 years as part of the Clinical Research Coordinator degree program at Northwest Vista Junior College, and one idea from that course has stuck with him ever since: a satisfied customer isn't automatically a retained one. People don't come back out of loyalty — they come back because they genuinely prefer doing business with you, because you created real value for them somewhere along the way. That book cover customer didn't come back because we asked her to. She came back because we actually listened the first time, made something better because of it, and she could tell. That's the whole game, as far as we're concerned — not chasing a sale, but making sure the next thing we make is worth someone's while to come back for.
The part we love most
If we're honest, the actual back-and-forth is the best part of a custom order — going over fabric options together, talking through what they're picturing, figuring out sizing or small details that make it exactly right for how they'll actually use it. It's a real collaboration, not just us filling an order. And there's something special about knowing that somewhere out there, someone's waiting on a piece we're making just for them. That anticipation is part of what makes the finished product mean so much once it's actually in their hands.
How to start one
If you've seen something in our shop and want it in a different fabric, or you have an idea for a set, a match to something you already own, or something entirely your own, we'd love to hear it. That's exactly what a custom quilted bag is — something built around your idea instead of ours. Custom orders start with a conversation — message us on Facebook, find us at Boerne Market Days, or visit our Custom Orders page on elam-co.com, and we'll go from there together.
We can't promise we'll say yes to absolutely everything — some ideas are more realistic than others given the time it takes to hand-quilt each piece — but we'll always talk it through with you first before saying so.