The 12 Most-Asked Questions About Our Products, Answered

Over the years we've answered the same friendly questions hundreds of times — by email, in messages, and across the counter. Rather than make you hunt for the answers, we've gathered the twelve we hear most into one honest, plain-English guide. Whether you're weighing up a leather journal, a custom pet sweatshirt or a personalised gift for someone hard to buy for, this should tell you what you need to know before you order.

Everything below reflects how we genuinely work at Burecho: a small, family-run workshop in Dorset making personalised handmade gifts to order. No warehouse, no mass production, no outsourced embroidery. Where a fuller explanation exists, we've linked to it so you can go deeper.

1. What kind of leather do you use?

We work with full-grain, vegetable-tanned leather — the top tier of leather, from the outermost layer of the hide with its natural grain intact. It's stronger, ages more beautifully and develops a richer patina than the corrected or bonded leathers used in cheaper goods. Some of our pieces use premium Badalassi Carlo veg-tan from Tuscany, showcased in our Badalassi Heritage collection. If the labels confuse you, our explainer on full-grain vs top-grain vs genuine leather untangles exactly what each term really means.

2. Is the embroidery real, or is it printed?

It's real, thread embroidery — not print, not vinyl, not a heat transfer. Each custom pet portrait is digitised from your photo and stitched with thread, which is why it has genuine texture and lasts the life of the garment. Printed designs crack and fade with washing; embroidery doesn't. We explain the difference honestly in embroidery vs print vs vinyl, and the full journey from your photo to a finished sweatshirt in how custom pet embroidery works.

3. How does the engraving work — and is it really free?

Yes, engraving is free on our leather gifts. You can add a name, initials, a date, coordinates, a short quote or a meaningful word, pressed cleanly into the leather. It's a subtle, permanent personal touch rather than a printed sticker. For inspiration, we've collected 50 short engraving ideas and a guide to what you can put on a leather gift.

4. Where are your products made?

Everything is made by hand in our family workshop in Dorset, on the south coast of England. The cutting, stitching, finishing and embroidery all happen here — nothing is drop-shipped or outsourced overseas. If you'd like to see behind the scenes, we wrote about a day in our Poole workshop and introduced the people behind it in meet Burecho.

5. How do I choose the right sweatshirt size?

The most reliable method is to measure a sweatshirt you already love the fit of — laid flat, chest and length — rather than guessing from a size letter. Our fit is a classic unisex cut; size up for a relaxed, cosy feel or stick to your usual for a neater look. The full breakdown, with how to measure, lives in our sweatshirt sizing guide.

6. What photo should I send for a pet portrait?

A clear, well-lit, front-on photo where your pet's face and features are sharp gives the best result. Avoid dark, distant or blurry shots — the more detail our digitiser can see, the more the finished embroidery looks like your actual pet. We've put together examples in what makes a good pet photo for embroidery so you know exactly what works.

7. How long will my order take?

Because everything is made to order, personalised items take longer than picking something off a shelf — the item literally doesn't exist until you order it. The sensible rule is to order in good time, especially around Christmas and other gifting peaks. Our honest guide to handmade gift delivery times explains how to plan so a deadline never forces a rushed decision.

8. Can I return a personalised item?

Personalised and made-to-order goods sit outside the usual change-of-mind return window under UK law, because they can't be resold — so it's worth getting the details right before you confirm. You are, of course, fully protected if an item arrives faulty or the details were made wrong on our end. We explain it all clearly in can you return personalised items? UK rules explained.

9. How do I care for leather so it lasts?

Full-grain leather is remarkably low-maintenance: keep it away from prolonged soaking, condition it occasionally, and let it develop its patina naturally. Over-conditioning is a more common mistake than under-conditioning. Our complete guide to caring for full-grain leather goods covers the whole routine, and if a piece ever gets caught in the rain, what to do when leather gets wet tells you how to dry it safely.

10. How should I wash an embroidered sweatshirt?

Wash cool, ideally inside out, and avoid a hot tumble dry. That protects both the cotton's shape and the stitched threads. Heat is what shrinks cotton and stresses embroidery, so a gentle routine keeps the garment looking new for years. The full method is in how to wash and care for embroidered sweatshirts.

11. Why do handmade items cost more than high-street versions?

Because a real person spends real time making each one, from materials chosen to last rather than to hit a price point. A £5 wallet and a handmade full-grain one aren't the same product at different prices — they're different things entirely. We break the economics down honestly in how much a handmade leather wallet should cost in the UK and why hand-finished embroidery costs more. Over a lifetime, a well-made piece is usually cheaper — see is real leather worth it?.

12. What do you actually make?

Three broad families of things, all personalisable:

• Custom pet embroidery — sweatshirts, hoodies and embroidered beanies featuring your pet, browsable in our sweatshirts and headwear ranges.
• Full-grain leather goods — journals and notebook covers, passport wallets, pen sleeves and more, in our leather products category, all with free engraving.
• Personalised gifts — from graphic tees to sterling-silver-plated jewellery, made to mark the moments that matter.

You can see the whole range on our all products page. And if a question isn't answered here, please just ask — because we make everything to order, we'd genuinely rather have a conversation before we start than leave you guessing.