Hand embroidery takes time and patience but I think it's worth it. Machine embroidery is beautiful stuff too.
A friend of mine described the difference between work done by hand and by machine really well. I'm trying to remember exactly what he said. It was something like this:" There's the craftsmanship of certainty and of uncertainty. The perfection and repeatabilty of work done by machine is the craftsmanship of certainty. The work done by hand where no two pieces are alike is the craftmanship of uncertainty. It depends entirely on the skill of the person doing the work."
Machine embroidery is the perfect example of the craftmanship of certainty. Once you're done setting up the machine the results are predictable and repeatable for as long as the machine keeps running. Hand embroidery embraces uncertainty where the end result is entirely determined by the skill of the person holding the needle.
Rodney