Earn extra income from hand embroidery.

Taking advantage of their free time during the agricultural off-season, many women in Cam Lam commune take on embroidery as a way to supplement their income. Although it's a secondary occupation requiring meticulousness and skill, the women persevere in pursuing it, contributing to improving their family's living standards.

Women in Cam Lam commune embroider handicrafts at home.

Meticulous attention to detail in every step.

To become familiar with the craft, apprentices start with basic techniques such as: making stitching, embroidering auxiliary stitches, and embroidering patterns. The apprenticeship time varies depending on each person's ability, usually from one week to one month to master the basic techniques and begin receiving products to embroider. The apprentices mainly teach those who are new to the craft. Thanks to sharing and guiding each other, the craft of hand embroidery has gradually spread and become a familiar occupation for many local women. To create a product, the embroiderer needs patience, meticulousness, skillful hands, and an aesthetic sense. Each pattern is carefully crafted, ensuring that every stitch is technically correct, even, and beautiful.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Man (Yen Hoa village) performs the fabric pressing process before handing it over to the embroiderers.

The group of women who practice hand embroidery, led by Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Man (Yen Hoa village), currently has about 20 members, mostly from various villages in Cam Lam commune, with the rest from Cam An commune, Nha Trang area, and Van Ninh. According to Ms. Man, the group mainly embroiders patterns on clothing for children and adults. Depending on the supplier, the fabric may be pre-pressed or not; if not, Ms. Man will handle this step before handing the fabric over to the women to embroider according to the pattern. “Each product has to go through many stages, such as: chain stitch embroidery before embroidering flowers, leaves, or creating stitching and auxiliary lines before embroidering animals or human figures… Therefore, each person handles a separate stage, and after completing their part, they hand over the product for others to proceed to the next step…,” Ms. Man explained.

Create jobs, increase income.

Most of the products that women in Cam Lam commune receive for embroidery are supplied by companies in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Because these are export goods, the patterns on the products change seasonally. On average, each finished product is paid between 30,000 and 50,000 VND. Workers are paid based on the work they do, for example: making the stitching earns about 4,000 to 5,000 VND per piece; additional stitching earns 2,000 VND per stitch; embroidering flowers or other designs earns about 5,000 VND per design.

The embroiderer pays close attention to every detail with each stitch.

Some handcrafted embroidered products feature rich and varied designs.

Embroidery is a year-round occupation with flexible hours, so many women, especially housewives, the elderly, and people with disabilities, often take work home during their free time to earn extra income. After working at a rice restaurant, Ms. Luong Thi Le Hong Diem (Nghia Nam village) takes on embroidery projects. Thanks to her diligence, she earns 2 to 3 million VND per month to cover her living expenses. Ms. Diem shared: “I embroider whenever I have free time, both to earn extra income and to satisfy my passion.” Although the income from embroidery isn't high, the perseverance and hard work have helped many women in Cam Lam stay in the profession for a long time. A prime example is Ms. Nguyen Thi Bich Lieu (Nghia Trung village), who has been in the craft for 26 years. She not only embroiders exactly according to the patterns but also creates new designs based on customer requests. Each product, though simple, contains the meticulous craftsmanship and dedication of the embroiderer.

Taking advantage of their free time, the women receive orders to embroider at home.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong Binh, Vice Chairwoman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Cam Lam commune and Chairwoman of the Cam Lam Women's Union, said that hand embroidery has become a familiar occupation, helping many women utilize their free time to earn extra income. In the future, the union plans to establish women's groups to support each other in developing the embroidery craft, both improving skills and creating jobs for female workers, contributing to increased income and expanding the embroidery industry in the locality.

CHAU TUONG

Source: https://baokhanhhoa.vn/kinh-te/202603/them-thu-nhap-tunghe-theu-thu-cong-fc86abd/