Pretty sure those are done by hand. Look at the word November - the 2 e's are different sizes. In machine embroidery they would be the same.

I agree it's hand stitched. If you look at Patrick's date, the '9's are even a different style. However that heavy satin stitch is like a machine stitch, so if you wanted to have it done by machine, you could. It wouldn't match, of course, but neither would hand stitching. I suspect today they could use fabric stabilizers so you'd get less puckering too.

Thanks for your thoughts. My mother (deceased) bought this piece and had someone do the embroidery. Considering it was over an 8 year span, it’s possible different people did the embroidery. Now, my task is to find someone who can do this.

It's very sweet!

Such a nice heirloom!

At first glance i thought it was machine stitch. The 9’s are so irregular and the letter thickness is just slightly different in a few spots. I would try a shop that sells embroidery supplies (fabric, threads, patrerns patterns, etc) and ask someone who knows their clientele pretty well. I believe this technique is called thread painting. As someone said, you could have it machine done as well.

One of my DiLs started doing machine embroidery a few years ago and does some beautiful work. She gave me a gift of 8 fine cotton monogrammed coasters last Christmas.

What a wonderful tradition.

Yes it is❤️

It's just beautiful and such a wonderful family tradition.

Thanks for all your input. The slip fabric is a hankerchief type cotton—extremely light weight which might account for the puckering, I will post when I get my sweet granddaughter’s name added on.

Ratherbesewing, such a light fabric intended to be worn by an infant may well mean compromises were made so the back of the embroidery would be less irritating against a baby's skin. I also don't know that I would want some of the best products used on the lightweight fabric and a family heirloom. Some of them are iron on products and I don't like the idea of having multiple patches of those on the back of a special piece. I mentioned the puckers only because they tend to be telltale signs of machine stitching, not as a criticism. This is a special case.

When you find someone, one thing you might ask them about is whether they have used starch as a primary or only stabilizer. I recently did a music staff on quilting cotton using only starch (to nearly cardstock level of starch) and that worked better than my tests with 2 or 3 layers of stabilizer and it would be something you could wash out before the baby wears it. I look forward to seeing it again with her name added.