Handmade vs Machine-Made Bags: Which Is Worth It?

I’ve been lugging around bags for what… maybe fifteen years? Probably more if you count those ugly canvas totes I had in college that still have wine stains from that night at Lauren’s flat (don’t ask).

Anyway. I wanted to write about something kinda random but actually super important if you’re like me and prone to buying cute things that end up sitting in a dusty corner: handmade vs machine-made bags.

I’ve owned both. Loads, actually.

Some messy thoughts on quality (that surprised me)

You’d think the handmade ones would always be better, right? I did. There’s that idea floating around Instagram and Pinterest that handmade equals perfection, love, lasting forever. And sometimes yeah, it does. My favorite bag right now is this slouchy natural cotton tote with these tiny stitched flowers. The stitches aren’t perfectly even, and honestly that’s why I love it.

But then there’s the flip side. I once bought this gorgeous-looking embroidered bag from a market in Madrid – hand-stitched, the seller swore up and down – and three weeks later the strap literally snapped while I was sprinting to catch the bus. It dumped all my groceries right on the sidewalk. Bananas everywhere. So, you know, handmade isn’t automatically invincible.

Meanwhile, I’ve got a mass-produced canvas bag from a cheap chain store that refuses to die. The irony.

The sustainability angle (where it gets tricky)

I try to shop eco-friendly when I can.  
It’s one reason I started looking for more natural fabric bags with patchwork or embroidery. Smaller artisans often use leftover textiles or organic cotton, and that feels way better than some mystery polyester that’ll probably outlive me.

But machine-made isn’t always the villain here. Some big brands are stepping up with recycled fabrics, though who knows how much of that is marketing spin. I’m still figuring it out.

A weird little personal test I did

So here’s something borderline ridiculous I did last spring: I packed two bags for a weekend trip — one was a handmade embroidered tote I picked up on website, and the other a machine-made canvas carryall from a department store sale. Same amount of stuff. Same travel chaos.

By the end of the trip, the handmade one was still holding up, though a bit wrinkly and with a tiny thread poking out. The machine-made? Spotless. It even looked newer somehow. It made me question my own assumptions.

So... which is worth the money?

I dunno. I guess it depends on what matters to you more. I care about the story — like who made this, what little imperfections show someone’s hand in it, is it a one-off thing no one else will have? That’s why I keep gravitating back to handmade stuff, even if the durability can be a toss-up.

And there’s just something nice about knowing your patchwork tote or embroidered bag didn’t come off a giant humming assembly line. Maybe it came from someone’s kitchen table, you know?

But if you need something super tough for grocery hauls or hauling laptops around campus every day, I honestly wouldn’t judge you for grabbing a sturdy machine-made one. I do it too. We live in a messy world.

Anyway, that’s my totally unscientific take. Maybe next time I’ll write about how long it took me to get hummus out of the lining of my natural cotton bag (spoiler: forever). If you’ve ever debated handmade vs machine-made, or found a patchwork bag that somehow survived festival season, tell me. I wanna hear your disasters and your wins.

Want to find a handmade bag with personality that fits your vibe? See our eco-friendly patchwork and embroidered bags here: https://konlun.com/