Meadow Herd Hand Embroidered Oversized T-Shirt, Black

A herd of cows grazing through a sunflower meadow, hand embroidered in a band straight across the chest of a black cotton oversized tee, with Veethreads stitched in cream cursive underneath. The band is filled solid, so almost no black fabric shows through it.

Details

• Black cotton, oversized unisex fit with a dropped shoulder and round neck
• Hand embroidered chest band: black and white cows, sunflowers, wild grass and small red blooms
• Veethreads worked in cream chain stitch below the band
• Woven Vee Threads label at the neck
• Sizes XS to XXL
• Stitched by women artisans in our Bulandshahr studio

What is in the band

Look closely and it reads as a whole field rather than a repeated motif. The cows are shaded in long and short stitch, so the black patches fade into white the way real markings do, and each animal stands at a slightly different angle. Behind them the sunflowers carry satin stitch petals and knotted brown centres. The grass runs through five or six greens, from a yellow green at the front to a deep green at the back, which is what gives the band its depth. Scattered through it are small red blooms, a few seed heads, and the odd flash of orange.

Nothing in it repeats exactly. That is the tell of hand work, and on a piece this dense it is unmissable.

Fit

Oversized unisex cut with a dropped shoulder, XS to XXL. Take your usual size for a relaxed drape, or size down one if you want it closer to a regular fit. It is cut the same for everyone, so pick the size by the fit you want rather than by the label.

Care

• Wash cold, inside out, on a gentle cycle
• Dry flat in shade, never in direct sun
• Iron on the reverse only, never over the stitching
• No bleach

Is the design embroidered or printed?
Hand embroidered in real thread, every stitch worked by a person. You can feel the whole band raised off the fabric and see the thread direction change across the cows and the grass. Nothing about it is printed or heat pressed.

How long does a piece like this take?
Days of stitching rather than hours. The band is filled solid across the full chest width and the shading on the cows is built up one graded row at a time. That is the entire reason it costs what it does.

Does the embroidery make the tee heavy or stiff?
The band has real weight and texture where it sits. The rest of the shirt is soft cotton and moves normally, so it wears like any oversized tee.

Will the colours fade on black?
Not if you wash cold and dry in shade. Direct sun is what dulls thread, more than washing does. The yellows and greens hold their brightness against black for years when treated that way.

Is it a men's or women's tee?
One unisex cut, worn by both. The oversized shape sits differently depending on the size you take, so choose by drape rather than by gender.

See the rest of our hand embroidered t-shirts, or read how hand embroidery differs from machine embroidery if you are weighing this against a printed tee.