What makes the difference?

The Timeless Craft:

Exploring the Magic of Hand Embroidery Pet Portraits vs. Machine Embroidery

In today's world, pet embroidery can be created both by hand and by machine. While machine embroidery offers speed and cheaper price, hand embroidery possesses a unique charm that sets it apart. In this post, we delve into what makes hand embroidery truly special when compared to its mechanized counterpart.

1. Variety of colors: 

With hand embroidery, the palette of colors is limited only by the embroiderer's imagination. Crafters can choose from an extensive range of embroidery floss and threads, often available in solid colors, variegated shades, and even metallic finishes. The meticulous process of hand stitching allows for subtle shading and blending of colors, resulting in breathtaking works of art.

Here is an example of hand embroidery. The level of details and variety of colors is just crazy. 

Unlike hand embroidery, machine embroidery operates within the confines of a pre-set color palette. Typically, embroidery machines offer a limited number of thread colors, often around 6-12 hues. This restriction can be frustrating for designers who strive to replicate intricate details and achieve subtle color variations when creating portraits of your beloved fury friends. Machine embroidery do not allow to create a good portrait for majority of breads that has rich coloring such as aussie, setter or dapple dachshund (and many many other beautiful coat types).

Below is the typical example of machine embroidered pet portrait. While sellers advertise their best works enchanced by photoshop this is how it looks in 99% of the cases: 

2. Level of details: With hand embroidery you can expect even the smallest details of your pet replicated and beautifully shown. Spots, specific color combinations, exact colors of the eyes, eyebrows, favorite expression, smile, pawprints coloring etc. Hand embroidery can show it all in details. Each item can be customized to smallest details. 

At the same time machine embroidery offers only generic look of the pet. 

3. Finished item often differs from mock-up you were provided: 

Just look at the typical review of the machine embroidery seller: 

Honestly the form of the dogs embroidery is not that bad in this case, however coloring is totally off. What is more even more frustrating - mock-up was looking good, however it didn't help to get the decent result. 

Do not recommended as a gift as owner will just not recognize his pups.  

4. Sustainability and Ethical Considerations: In an era where sustainability and ethical practices are gaining increasing importance, hand embroidery shines as an eco-friendly and ethical choice. Hand embroidery requires no electricity, minimal equipment, and relies on traditional skills passed down through generations. By supporting hand embroidery, we contribute to the preservation of traditional crafts, support artisans, and promote a more sustainable and mindful approach to creativity.

    While machine embroidery undoubtedly offers speed and cheaper price, hand embroidery embodies a certain magic that cannot be replicated. It captures the essence of human touch, the beauty of imperfections, and the connection to tradition. The art of hand embroidery is a labor of love that ideally connects with the true love to your pet.