From photograph to stitch
Four weeks,four steps.
You order before you send a photograph. That order is what reserves a slot in the atelier and opens your record. Nothing is drawn until the photograph arrives, and nothing is stitched until you have seen the stitch map and agreed to it.
Step 01 — day zero
Order the piece.
Choose the garment, the colour and the size. No photograph is needed at this point and no decisions about the embroidery are made yet. Checkout takes about two minutes.
Your record number is assigned the moment the order is placed. It stays with this commission for as long as it exists.
Step 02 — in your own time
Send thephotograph.
A link to upload arrives by email straight after checkout, and again the next morning. It does not expire. Some clients send a photograph within the hour; others take a fortnight to choose.
One clear photograph is enough. We review it within two working days and tell you before drawing anything if it will not stitch well.
What makes a photograph work
- Daylight, taken indoors near a window.
- The face fills most of the frame.
- Eyes and nose in focus.
- Fur texture visible, not smoothed by a filter.
What we cannot use
- Screenshots, or photographs of a screen.
- Heavy backlighting, or the face in shadow.
- Portrait-mode blur across the muzzle.
Step 03 — five to seven days
Approve thestitch map.
The photograph is traced by hand into a stitch map: the path the needle will follow, the order the colours are laid, and the thread numbers chosen to match the coat. It is sent to you as a rendering on the garment you ordered.
Two rounds of changes are included. Nothing goes to the machine until you agree.
Step 04 — two to three weeks
Stitchedand logged.
The garment is hooped and stitched in one run, then finished by hand at the back so nothing scratches. It is pressed, checked against the stitch map, and packed with its record card.
The record stays with us. If the piece wears out, or you want a second in another colour years from now, the same stitch map is still on file.
The timeline
Order placed, record opened, upload link sent.
Photograph reviewed and accepted, or a new one requested.
Stitch map sent for approval.
Stitched, pressed and dispatched from Melbourne.
Counted from the day the photograph is accepted, not the day of the order. If you take a month to choose a photograph, the clock starts then.
Common questions
Why do I pay before sending a photograph?
The order reserves a slot in the atelier and opens your record. It also means the photograph is never the thing standing between you and a piece you have already decided on.
What if my photograph cannot be used?
We tell you within two working days and ask for another. Nothing is drawn and nothing is charged twice. If no photograph works, the order is refunded in full.
Can I change the piece after ordering?
Colour and size can change any time before the stitch map is approved. After approval the garment is hooped and cannot be swapped.
Can you stitch more than one animal?
Two on one piece, from two photographs. A third crowds the placement and the faces stop reading at 90mm.
Can I return it?
Size exchange only. Every piece is made for one animal and cannot be resold. If the stitching does not match the map you approved, we remake it.
Is this a gift?
The upload link can be sent to the recipient instead, so they choose the photograph. Say so at checkout and nothing pricing-related appears in their email.