Short answer. First decide which part you want made by hand: the cloth, the print, the embroidery or the whole garment. Then ask the seller for three things: a photo of the reverse side, the name of the place it was made, and how long it took. Buy from the maker where you can, and read the returns policy before you order anything personalised.
On a clothing label in India, "handmade" can mean four different things. Most disappointment comes from mixing them up.
We run a hand-embroidery studio in Bulandshahr, so here's our own label, read honestly. On a Vee Threads tee the embroidery is handmade. The cotton jersey is knitted and sewn by machine, like every T-shirt you own. A seller who can say that plainly about their own product is usually one you can trust.
What does handmade mean on this label?
Tap the word the seller uses.
Handloom. The cloth itself is woven by hand, one pass of the shuttle at a time. Look for the Handloom Mark. The garment is usually cut and sewn by machine afterwards, and that's normal.
Hand block print. Colour is stamped on with carved wooden blocks, so the repeats never line up perfectly. That slight misalignment is how you recognise the real thing.
Hand embroidery. The decoration is stitched by a person. On our pieces this is the handmade part: the cotton is machine-knit, and the embroidery takes between 2 and 14 hours.
Hand-knit or crochet. Cloth and garment are made together, by one person with needles or a hook. It's slow, and it's priced like it.
Where to buy handmade clothes in India
- The maker's own website. You usually get the most detail per listing, and more of your money reaches the people who made the piece. Ours is one example: hand embroidered T-shirts, stitched to order.
- Craft bazaars. Dilli Haat in Delhi is open all year. The Surajkund Mela in Faridabad runs for about two weeks every February, and Dastkar holds bazaars in several cities. You can handle the cloth and talk to the person who made it.
- Government emporiums. The Central Cottage Industries Emporium and the state emporiums sell craft at fixed prices.
- Marketplaces. Etsy has a large handmade section, and our own shop is on it. On any big marketplace the word is applied loosely, so the six checks below matter more there.
- Instagram sellers. Fine when a friend has already ordered from them. Ask for a reverse-side photo before you pay.
Where to buy handmade clothing online in India goes through each of these in more detail.
Six checks before you pay
- Ask to see the reverse side. Hand embroidery leaves knots and thread tails on the back. Machine embroidery leaves an even grid of bobbin thread, and usually a papery backing.
- Look for small differences. Two handmade pieces are never identical. If every unit in the photos matches stitch for stitch, a machine made them.
- Ask who made it, and where. A real answer names a town and a workshop. Ours is a studio in Kutubpur, Bulandshahr, and the women who stitch there live within walking distance of it.
- Ask how long it took. Anyone who made the thing knows. One of our tees takes between 2 and 14 hours at the embroidery frame.
- Ask for a number for the fabric. That's GSM for knits and thread count for woven cloth. "Premium cotton" isn't a number. Our tees are 220 GSM.
- Read the returns policy. Made-to-order and personalised pieces usually can't be returned. That's normal, and it's true of ours too, though a fault is always put right.
Marks worth knowing
| Mark | Run by | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Handloom Mark | Government of India | The cloth was woven on a handloom |
| Silk Mark | Silk Mark Organisation of India | The silk is pure natural silk |
| Craftmark | AIACA, a craft sector body | A recognised handmade craft process was used |
| GI tag | Geographical Indications Registry | The craft comes from its home region, such as Lucknow chikan or Kutch embroidery |
Many small studios don't carry any of these, which is why the six checks tell you more than a logo does.
What a fair price looks like
A printed tee costs roughly ₹250 to ₹400, and the design goes on by machine in seconds. A hand-embroidered tee takes one person between 2 and 14 hours. Ours start at about ₹1,231, and most are about ₹1,699.
So when a piece is cheap and still claims hours of handwork, one of those two things is untrue. Why hand-embroidered clothing costs more breaks down where the money goes.
Buying something personalised
A name or a date makes a piece yours. It also means nobody else can buy it if you send it back, so three things are worth doing before you order.
- Type the text exactly as it should be stitched, capitals and all. We stitch what you type.
- Choose the size from the size chart, not from habit. Our tees are cut oversized, and one size down gives a regular fit.
- Order early. A custom piece is stitched after you order and dispatched within 7 days, with delivery on top.
You can see what's possible in custom hand embroidery.
Comparing brands? How to compare hand embroidery clothing brands in India gives you six criteria, and shows how we score on them ourselves.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I buy handmade clothes in India?
From makers' own websites, craft bazaars such as Dilli Haat and the Surajkund Mela, government emporiums, and the handmade sections of marketplaces like Etsy. Buying from the maker gives you the most detail about how the piece was made.
How do I know if clothes are really handmade?
Ask for a photo of the reverse side, the place it was made and the hours it took. Handmade pieces show small differences from one to the next. Pieces that match exactly were made by a machine.
Is handloom the same as handmade?
No. Handloom means the cloth was woven by hand. A handloom shirt may still be cut and sewn by machine, and a hand-embroidered tee may be stitched onto machine-made cloth.
Why are handmade clothes more expensive?
Because of the hours. A printed design takes seconds, while a hand-embroidered motif takes one person between 2 and 14 hours.
Can handmade clothes be returned?
Stock pieces usually can. Made-to-order and personalised pieces usually can't, because they can't be resold. Check the policy, your size and your spelling before you order.
Who wrote this
Vee Threads is a hand-embroidery studio in Kutubpur, Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh, run by Mansi and Vikash. Every piece is stitched by hand by women artisans who live within walking distance of the studio. There is no embroidery machine on the premises, and we have shipped more than 5,000 orders. Mansi runs the studio and quality control. Vikash handles the digital side.
Fabric weights and prices quoted here are from our own product pages: 220 GSM cotton tees, 350 GSM fleece sweatshirts, 400 GSM fleece hoodies and acid-wash denim caps. Browse hand embroidered t-shirts, embroidered sweatshirts and caps, or start a custom order.
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