Line Lønning always wanted to start her own business, but she didn’t know what to do. Then she had a flash of inspiration: embroidered patches. She loved the idea of creating something beautiful and meaningful with her graphic design skills. She applied for a scholarship and bought an embroidery machine. In March 2019, she launched Pryd, her own brand of sustainable patches.

Her first big break came when some of her Instagram followers noticed her patch with the slogan “lenge leve havet /long live the sea” and embroidered waves. They were part of the green movement and wanted to buy her patches for an event. Line was thrilled and agreed to sell them. “The timing was perfect, so I just went for it,” she says.

Sustainability is at the heart of Pryd. Line uses viscose thread instead of plastic thread, even though it makes the process more complicated. She also recycles used clothes and turns them into new pieces with her patches. “It is important to take care of the clothes we have. What a better way to make them new again but by using embroidered stickers. The fashion industry has some major sustainability problems,” she says.

Line also cares about other causes, such as wildlife conservation. She made some koala patches and donated all the income from them to WWF during the bushfires in Australia. “I try to contribute to the issues I am passionate about,” she says.

Working from home gives Line a lot of flexibility. She can email customers, design and produce new patches, and spend time with her daughter during the day. She loves her embroidery machine, but she also relies on her iPad Pro and Apple Pencil for sketching. She uses an old software program to convert her designs into stitches.

Her goal is to keep growing her business and creating unique patches that reflect her values. “My niche is meaningful embroidered patches. There’s a lot of merch about veganism and sustainability on the market, but the designs are typically in big dominant fonts and black and white colours. My goal was to create something different,” she says.

Her advice to aspiring entrepreneurs is to do some research and find a niche, but not to overthink it. “Otherwise, you never get started,” she says.