Distinguish Hand & Machine Embroidery

Hand embroidery and machine embroidery are two distinct types of embroidery. Hand embroidery is done by hand, using a needle and thread. Machine embroidery is done by machine, using a sewing machine.

There are advantages and disadvantages to both types of embroidery. Hand embroidery is more traditional and can be more intricate. It is also more time-consuming. Machine embroidery is faster and can be less expensive. It can also be less precise than hand embroidery.

1. Look at the subject matter

Machine embroidery is an industrialized mass production, and considering the quantity of market demand, it is necessary to choose the subject matter that more people can accept and like. If you see a large size embroidery with a very low price, you can tell it is a machine embroidery product.

2. Look at the thread light

The embroidery thread used in machine embroidery is chemical fiber, and often double strands are knotted together as if they were thin twine. It is easy to distinguish such machine embroidery. Later on, machine embroidery improved the thread by using a chemical fiber with a small amount of silk blend, and changed it to a single strand, so that it was close to pure silk thread. However, machine embroidery cannot completely use pure mulberry silk embroidery thread.

Because the needle of the embroidery machine moves very fast, if you use pure silk thread, it will definitely pilling. Moreover, pure silk thread is not strong enough and can be easily pulled off.

The machine embroidery is very much like hand embroidery, but the embroidery surface is covered with a luster that is very different from the warm and lustrous luster of silk. Those who are familiar with silk will know it at a glance.

3. Look at the splitting thread

Hand embroidery requires the thread to be split into 16, 32, or up to 64 parts depending on the shape and craft. A few of these parts are then used to create the embroidery. Therefore, the thickness of the threads in hand embroidery is very variable. There are usually 2 or 3 different thicknesses of thread, or as many as a dozen different thicknesses.

In the beginning, machine embroidery was not able to split the threads. Later, it was improved and different thicknesses of threads were used to create different areas. However, the choice of thread thickness for machine embroidery was limited, and now it seems that there are usually only 2 types of threads. Maybe in the future, machine embroidery will adopt more choices of thickness, but it is still hard to reach the level of hand embroidery.

4. Look at the details of the shape

Machine embroidery cannot handle the details of shape such as edges and tips. For birds and flowers in brushwork style, hand embroidery can use proper stitching to make the petals very even, clean and delicate. While machine embroidery produces petal edges and tip parts that are blurry, messy and uneven.

The same is true for some other details, such as the pointed beaks of the birds, the texture of the feathers, and the backwards and forwards of the leaves. Nowadays, machine embroidery has made significant improvements in these details, but it is still not comparable to hand embroidery.

5. Look at the color configuration

The color selection of machine embroidery is limited, and the transition between color blocks is rather rigid. It can be viewed from a distance but not played with. Hand embroidery is rich in color and has many layers of transitional intermediate colors. The picture is more delicate and vivid, and the rhythm is smooth.

When choosing between hand embroidery and machine embroidery, it is important to consider the project at hand and the desired results.

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