Hand embroidery is a work of skill. It’s a slow, detailed and very meticulous work. Of course, when every single thread is stitched by hand then it becomes a very time consuming and effortful work. The hand embroidery starts with a piece of fabric that is tightly stretched over a wood or plastic hoop. The crafter carefully chooses the colour of the thread and starts filling the print stitch by stitch.
The hand-embroidered fabrics are all unique to each other. Even if the exact print and colour of threads are replicated then also a subtle difference always exists when the final piece is ready. The threads used for hand embroidery are different from that of machine embroidery. In the case of hand embroidery, more of silk, cotton and wool threads are used. The strands are divided as per the requirement of making the embroidery heavy or delicate.
We feel the main reason why hand embroidery is expensive than machine embroidery is the fact that the previous one consumes a lot of valuable time. Yes, and by time here we mean that it can be weeks or months. The implication of so much time also means one more thing; that the hand-embroidered piece is curated out of love and patience. Think it this way, do you put a lot of time and efforts in things which you don’t love or care about? No, Right? That’s what the hand-embroidered fabrics are therefore called the prized possession.
There is a lot of difference between hand embroidery and machine embroidery. To know the difference, first look at the opposite side of the fabric you are planning to buy. If the stitching is continuous with very few breaks then it is machine embroidery. Contrary, if you see a frequent break of thread (colour) to start a new thread (colour) then it is hand embroidery. When there is hand embroidery on the fabric then there is always a long trail of threads that are hanging on the opposite side of the fabric. So, now whenever you buy next hand embroidery clothing, do look for this thing.