Growing up, Lilly Schmidt could never find personalised keepsakes with her name spelled correctly – a small disappointment that would later inspire a business built around helping others feel special. Through LSEmbroidery, she creates personalised, hand-embroidered knitwear that can become part of treasured family memories. What began as a hobby, stitching onto locally sourced and thrifted jumpers, has grown into her own knitwear range, with pieces for babies, children and adults. Alongside a full-time job, Lilly is also expanding into embroidery classes and experiences, while growing a community project supporting families with babies in neonatal intensive care. With creativity and care at its heart, her business reflects both her love of making and her ambition to build something meaningful.
The passion: What inspired you to set up your business?
Growing up with a differently spelled name, I could never find anything personalised with my name spelled correctly, and I remember how small but significant that felt as a kid. That experience stuck with me, and it’s a big part of why I value personalisation so much now.
When I started the business, there wasn’t anyone in New Zealand offering personalised, hand-embroidered knitwear, so I saw an opportunity to fill that gap. What started as a little hobby has grown into something I’m incredibly proud of, and I love being able to create pieces that become part of such special memories for families.
The launch: How did you start out in the beginning?
I started out small, sourcing knit jumpers from a local business and picking up thrifted knits to embroider on while slowly building up LSEmbroidery through social media and word of mouth. It was a lot of learning as I went, experimenting with different ideas and figuring out what people connected with.
As demand grew and my products became more popular, I was able to reinvest back into the business and eventually begin working directly with manufacturers to create my own line of knitwear. It was a really exciting step because it gave me more control over the design and quality, allowing me to create the kind of thoughtful, personalised pieces I had envisioned from the beginning.
The innovation: What was the biggest breakthrough for you with your business?
I think one of the biggest breakthroughs has been recognising how much potential there is beyond the products I originally started with. What began as personalised baby and children’s knitwear has evolved into so much more, including adult pieces, embroidery classes and experiences, and community projects supporting NICU babies.
Each of these has opened up new opportunities and challenged me to think differently about the business. The NICU embroidery project has been particularly meaningful because it allows me to use something I love doing to give back to families going through an incredibly difficult time. It’s reminded me that the business can be about so much more than the products I sell.
Yin and Yang: How do you balance work and family?
Honestly, I’m still figuring that one out! I work full-time during the day and run LSEmbroidery around that, so my evenings and weekends can get pretty busy. I’ve definitely had to learn to be more intentional with my time and remind myself that I don’t have to be productive every single minute.
I love what I do, which makes it easy to fill all my spare time with embroidery, but finding that balance is something I’m always working on. Making time for family and switching off when I need to is just as important as growing the business.
The drive: What challenges have you overcome?
One of the biggest challenges I’ve overcome has been growing LSEmbroidery during a challenging economic climate. With the rising cost of living, customers are naturally more selective about where they spend their money, so I’ve had to continually adapt my pricing, marketing and product offering while maintaining the quality that my brand is known for.
At the same time, I’ve been balancing the growth of the business alongside a full-time job, which has required a lot of discipline, careful time management and plenty of late nights. As the business has grown, I’ve also had to navigate challenges such as competing with fast fashion, which can create unrealistic expectations around pricing, and dealing with copied designs and lower-quality imitations of my products.
While those experiences have been frustrating at times, they’ve taught me the importance of staying focused on what makes LSEmbroidery different. They’ve strengthened my resilience and reinforced my commitment to quality, authenticity and creating a great experience for every customer.
For better or worse: What are the pros and cons of running your own business?
The best part is being able to take an idea and turn it into something real, especially knowing that something I’ve made by hand might become a keepsake for someone or be part of a really special milestone. I love having the creative freedom to try new things and build something that’s completely my own.
The flip side is that there’s always something to do. You’re responsible for everything, from making the products and creating content to customer service, marketing and finances. When you work full-time as well, it can be difficult to switch off because there’s always another idea to work on or something on your to-do list.
But even with the challenges, there’s something really rewarding about knowing that everything I’ve built has come from an idea I had, the risks I’ve taken, and the work I’ve put into it.
Hopes and dreams: What next?
My biggest dream is to eventually run LSEmbroidery full-time and be able to give it the time and attention it deserves. For now, I’m focused on continuing to grow the business, reaching new customers, and expanding into more adult knitwear and embroidery experiences.
I’d also love to continue growing the NICU embroidery project and reaching more hospitals across New Zealand. I want to keep creating pieces that people genuinely love while building a sustainable business that I can be proud of for years to come.
I’m excited to see where it goes, even if I don’t have every step mapped out just yet.
Visit the LSEmbroidery website to find out more, and connect with them on Facebook and Instagram.
