Frequently Asked Questions
- What is machine embroidery?
- What makes your embroidery different?
- Why is your machine embroidery more expensive than other stores?
- Do you take custom orders?
- I like one of your designs but I wish it was a different colour/size...
- I have a question that isn't listed here
As opposed to hand-stitched embroidery, we use a computerized embroidery machine to stitch the design onto a hooped piece of fabric. You may have seen these machines at commercial embroidery shops or mall kiosks. There are also very large industrial versions of these machines which are used in commercial clothing production (eg to mass-embroider logos onto fronts of shirts).
All our embroidery is done in-house (literally, in our living room). We make all of our own designs, translate these designs into programs that the machine can understand and run, and then keep editing and tweaking until they look perfect every time. Every patch is personally handled and inspected by us to ensure it meets our high standards. We hand-cut and heat seal every patch, and apply backings in-house as well. At Cosmically Unlucky, every step of the process is handled by the same person. This ensures integrity of the artistic vision with high-quality embroidery throughout.
As we are based in Edmonton, the costs of our embroidery primarily reflects a fair wage for specialized skilled labour. Some of our patches take multiple hours to run, and we also spend plenty of time on various ancillary tasks like preparing fabric, cutting out patches, heat-sealing edges, affixing specialized backings and preparing orders. Not to mention the time spent on designing and refining!
We do our absolute best to only purchase items locally. Yes, we may pay more for fabric or thread than other embroiderers, but it is more important for us to keep our dollars within our local community as much as possible than to save some money shipping cheaper supplies from overseas. We also buy all of our mailing supplies and ship through Canada Post, rather than using third-party private shipping services.
Yes! Please contact us. We are able to make patches ranging from 1"-8" in size (approximately 2.5-20.3cm).
Please contact us with your request. Since we make and own all of our designs, modifications are possible! Please be aware there may be additional costs associated with certain modifications depending on the scope of work involved or any additional supplies that may be required.
Please contact us and we'll be happy to get back to you. We do our best to respond to all emails within 24-48 hours.