Short answer. For a drawing of your own dog, print is best because it keeps every hand-drawn detail. Standard computerised embroidery is lovely for names and simple logos.
It's one of the questions I get asked most. Should I get my dog printed or embroidered? Isn't embroidery posher?
Honest answer. It depends on what you want on there. Both are lovely, they just do different jobs.
I love embroidery
Before Syd&Co I did a Masters in Contemporary Applied Arts, specialising in textiles, and I worked with embroidery a lot. When I first started Syd&Co I free machine embroidered personalised pencil cases, which I made from start to finish.
A couple of years in, I bought a computerised embroidery machine. But I found it stifled my creativity. There just wasn't enough freedom in what I could create. I still think embroidery is beautiful, it's just not right for what we do here now.
When computerised embroidery is great
Most personalised clothing uses computerised embroidery, where a machine stitches a design automatically. It's brilliant for simple things. A name, a logo, a little paw on the chest. It looks smart, it feels textured and it lasts.
Why I print my drawings instead
Every Syd&Co dog starts as a drawing I do by hand. The little tuft on their ear, the white smudge on their chin, the way their eyebrows sit when they're judging you. That detail is what makes it look like your dog and not just a spaniel.
Computerised embroidery can't keep that. To stitch a drawing, it has to be digitised into blocks of thread. Fine lines get thicker, small details disappear and the face goes a bit generic. On a big back design it can also feel stiff and heavy, and it can pucker on a soft hoodie.
Printing keeps every line I draw. So when you open the parcel, it's your dog looking back at you.
Hand and freehand embroidery are a different thing altogether
Everything above is about computerised embroidery. Hand embroidery and freehand machine embroidery are very different. I know from my pencil case days that when an artist is guiding every stitch they can blend colours, play with texture and be so much more creative. Every piece becomes its own little artwork.
If you love the look of stitching, an embroidery artist is a really special choice. I adore the work of Bethany Duffy Embroidery. Bethany studied Hand Embroidery at the Royal School of Needlework at Hampton Court Palace, and you can see those traditional techniques in every piece. Have a look if you'd like your pet stitched as a little piece of art.
Telling your story
What Syd&Co really does is tell stories through illustration. Your dog by the lake, in the wildflowers, inside a snow globe. The scene, the little details, the walks you share. Each design is a whole little world with your dog in it.
Take our original Life is Better design. It's my drawing of Buttermere, a lake we walk with our own dogs. It came from all those muddy walks and quiet moments by the water, when life really does feel better with a dog by your side. Then your dog goes right into that scene, so it becomes your story too.
That's why I choose print. It allows me to use the clothing as a canvas for my drawings.
Will the print crack or fade?
This is the big worry with print, and I get it. We've all had a cheap t-shirt where the design cracked and peeled after a few washes.
Ours isn't like that. We use an industrial printing process, so the ink doesn't just sit on top of the fabric. It has a soft, textured feel and it's extremely strong. Every piece is built to last.
Look after it and it will look after you. Wash it inside out at 30 and don't tumble dry or iron the print. One customer told me hers had been through "a good few" muddy washes and was "still as good as new".
So which should you choose?
- A name or a simple logo. Computerised embroidery is great.
- A one-off stitched artwork. Look for a hand or freehand embroidery artist.
- A drawing of your actual dog, and their story. Print, every time.
If you're not sure whether your dog is on my drawing sheets, send me a photo. I'll tell you honestly what will look best.