But even if we could get past the mental block that is the consumerist mentality and be prepared to potentially wait for years for a fully bepsoke embroidered work, due to the amount of time it takes to produce them, there is also an associated cost that can be similarly prohibitive. There are fewer religious now, so there aren't so my who are available and have the skillset to produce these at (albeit marginally) lower costs. That means turning to non-religious, and of course non-religious require a true living wage. If they are to potentially work on a single project for years, they need to be compensated accordingly. Of course, one could tread the mirky waters of seeking out such works from economically less fortunate countries, but aside from the qualitative risk that might bring, it also brings one into the mirky waters of an ethical dilemma: one might well be supporting a sweatshop. Hardly ideal on any front and probably best avoided for a variety of reasons.
So it is that, generally, when hand embroidery does make an appearance, it is usually encountered in smaller bits and pieces. But the fact is that there are people out there with these skillsets who are doing work in this area. One such individual, Ms. Anna Baranowicz, was someone I came across on LAH's popular clerical dress forum. There she published the following images, showing some of her exquisite hand embroidery work. I would invite you to pay particular attention the quality of the textures and shading. These are extremely well produced works of embroidery.
All of these designs, as you can see, are still in their as yet raw form, destined to be placed upon liturgical textiles still. For an example of a completed work, here is another "Pelican in Her Piety" that has made its way onto a burse.
