There are many souvenir shops in Seoul, but for a more unique gift or keepsake, head to one of the many customizable DIY gift shops.
Perhaps the biggest Seoul customizable gift shops is Wappen House 와펜하우스, which has sprung up recently in key Seoul neighborhoods like Myeongdong, Insadong and Hongdae. It also has locations in Gangdong, Busan and Jeju.
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The customizable gift shops in Korea are usually easy to spot (especially Wappen House) – they have very colourful rainbow exteriors, neon lights and windows full of the types of gifts you can make. It is also a great Seoul activity with kids especially when it is raining.
From prices to locations, here is our guide to Wappen House 와펜하우스 and how to customise bags, keyrings, pencil-cases and more.
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The trend of DIY embroidery patches and gifts 와펜패치
Known as ‘wapenpaechi’ 와펜패치, the latest souvenir trend in Seoul and big cities like Busan is to create and customise your own gifts, stationery or items of clothing.
Whilst not the cheapest souvenir, choosing your own items and iron-on patches to make something special is all part of the experience.
These shops are FULL of thousands of different embroidery designs from mini banana milks to cute emojis, and even popular cartoon characters like Disney.
Given the choice, allow yourself enough time to choose from all the patches available – there are also often discounts if you buy in bulk. We’ll share some example Korean embroidery patch prices later.
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What is Wappen House 와펜하우스?
Whilst there are many DIY /customizable embroidery gift shops in Korea, perhaps the best known to tourists is Wappen House.
We first spotted them in Myeongdong about 5 years ago and now they seem to be popping up everywhere. We were back in Seoul in May 2025 and a huge new Wappen House had also opened in Insadong.
Wappen House is very tourist friendly with lots of choice, signs in Korean and English plus very clear prices.
Staff are also able to make your items for you quite quickly, once you’ve chosen your products / base and the embroidery iron-on patches.
We think the biggest Wappen House 와펜하우스 is in Myeongdong, but the one on Festival Street in Hongdae is huge too!
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Or check out our best neighbourhoods in Seoul Guide >
How to make DIY embroidery patches and gifts in Korea
Most stores have clear instructions on the wall showing how to make the gifts – it is very easy and simple to do. If you are taking these back for gifts back home for friends or family, it might be an idea of what gift product they want.
Step 1 – Pick a Product / Base Item
This is what your embroidery iron-on patches will be added too. In other customisable stores (not Wappen) there are also 3D miniatures to choose from that can be added to croc style shoes or phone cases.
The main items to choose from are:
Keyring
This is the most popular embroidery patch item as it is the cheapest, simplest and very light to carry (especially if you are buying in bulk).
Pencil cases / zipped pouches
Personalise a pencil case with cute embroidery patches 와펜패치 – it is a great gift for children at school and will make them the envy of their class (probably)
Tote Bags
Create a personalised tote bag – then use it to take home all your other gifts and embroidered keyrings!
Shoe charms
This isn’t in every store but for instance, in Hongdae Wappen House, you can buy croc style shoes / slippers in many colours and then clip on plastic 3D charms also available in store.
You can find many other stores across Korea that aren’t Wappen that sell these croc charms.
Passport Cover
Embroidery patches go global! Travel in style with your own idiosyncratic identification document cover.
Phone covers (not in Wappen stores)
Personalising your phone cover in South Korea is so popular. We’ve not seen them in Wappen yet, but we’ve seen other shops such as Nemamdaero Cafe in Hongdae dedicated to it.
Try this – Handmade Personalised Stamp Engraving in Seoul >
Step 2 – Pick your embroidery patches and lay them out
Given how many patches there are to choose from (we are talking thousands) in various shapes and sizes), this may take a little longer than you planned.
When we created some customised keyrings in Myeongdong Wappen House, it took us about 30 minutes to choose our patches as there is just so much choice.
You can also add lettering / names to gifts and you pay for each letter individually (so hopefully you have a short name or just use initials!).
Step 3 – Position Your Patches and Pay
The final step is to arrange the patches exactly as you want and then hand the item (patches and all) to the member of staff.
You pay based on the core item and number of patches then a staff member will iron on the patches for you. Please note there are some stores where you can attach items yourself but it is usually staff that do it.
If you are feeling lazy, you can also buy pre designed / embroidered items – but where is the fun in that?!
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Brand and cartoon collaborations
If you like cute characters, Wappen House sometimes has official / licensed tie-ins with brands like Disney.
Wappen House Prices
Each individual patch costs a small amount and the prices vary usually according to size.
Expect to pay from 1,000 won per small patch (based on Wappen House prices in 2025). The biggest patches cost between 4,000 and 6,000 won, with basic fabric keyrings from 10,000 to 12,000 won.
You can also have numbers and letters embroidered onto your chosen item – prices are around 2,000 won per English letter.
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Other customizable stores in Seoul
We’ve mainly focused on and taken photos of Wappen House 와펜하우스 embroidery patches and gift sets, but there are lots more ‘wapenpaechi’ 와펜패치 shops in Seoul and other Korean cities to look out for.
One of our favourites is the DDP Design Store located in Dongdaemun – the quality of patches is really good here (albeit a bit more expensive) plus they have super cute Hechi 해치 embroidery patches (Hechi is the official tourism mascot of Seoul).
You might like – Our guide to Dongdaemun district in Seoul (great for shopping malls)
And finally – did you know you can customize and create your own NIKE gear?
Myeongdong Nike (located inside the Noon Square Mall) is one of the most popular stores in the area and attracts shoppers from all over Seoul.
It is one of a growing number of Nike stores in South Korea that allow you to customize and create your own Nike clothing, unique to you and personal tastes.
Once in store at Myeongdong Nike, pick your own Nike transfers and graphics from thousands on display and create your very own Nike range!
To customize your own Nike merch, you are best to head to Myeongdong in the morning and grab a ‘Nike Make Your Own’ ticket as they usually run out by lunch time.
We’ve also spotted this Nike personalisation service at their Dongdaemun DOOTA mall branch too.
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