Hand-embroidered Surgical mask depicting famous attractions helps Xuan Kieu (39 years old) with nostalgia for her job and earn an income.
From March 2020, because of Covid-19, Xuan Kieu had to temporarily stop working at a tourism office in Ho Chi Minh City. Unemployed, but with the available experience of making masks with her family, she spent time researching and launching new products to meet market demand when masks were scarce at that time.
She chooses linen fabric with cool and environmentally friendly properties. Embroidery patterns also range from simple such as a map and Vietnamese flag to complex patterns like Thien Mu pagoda, Hoi An Bridge pagoda…
“When the epidemic broke out, medical masks became scarce, the price was pushed up, so I embroidered motifs for the mask to encourage people to use cloth masks, giving medical masks to medical staff. on the front lines and those in quarantine,” she said.
3-layer mask, with the outer layer being hand-embroidered linen fabric, the middle layer lined with cotton or linen fabric of the same color, the inner layer is cotton mesh, moisture absorption. This is a type that creates a cool, comfortable feeling for the user, which can be easily manipulated when embroidering and sewing.
At first, Ms. Kieu thought of making masks to kill time and save her job, but when she posted the samples on her personal page, many friends in the travel industry spread orders. In addition to letters that promote, propagate and protect wildlife, the environment, or cuisine, she also accepts custom orders from customers.
In the early days, the steps to create a mask were only sisters and mothers. At that time, she was in charge of designing ideas, hand embroidery, and her mother was in charge of sewing. The price of each product is from 30,000 to 300,000 VND depending on the model.
Day by day, her hand-embroidered masks reach more customers, the number of orders increases. Up to now, every month, Ms. Kieu completes and sells about 200-300 masks to the market. Her business model has created part-time jobs for many disadvantaged and disadvantaged people in the locality.
Ms. Kieu noticed that foreign customers always prefer handmade products bearing the mark of the country they set foot in. Since then, she began to design masks with bold Vietnamese characteristics when recreating famous landmarks and landscapes such as Sword Lake, Ben Thanh market… and received many positive feedbacks from customers. .
“After a year of starting a new job, I realized that crafting business in addition to talent and dexterity, also requires passion and love. Because this is a product that requires creativity, no Stop learning to be able to meet the ever-changing tastes of customers, “said Ms. Kieu.
Up to now, not only appearing widely in the Vietnamese market, Ms. Kieu’s products have also had export orders in the form of retail customers sent to family members abroad. Occasionally, a foreigner living in Ho Chi Minh City buys her mask through a friend’s recommendation.
In the coming time, she said she will continue to produce new handmade products such as hand-embroidered towels, coasters, small purse bags, and tablecloths. She cherishes building a brand of handmade products with her own characteristics. She shared that she will not wholesale goods because the product will be overpriced. “There are days when I can only sell 1-2 units, I am also very happy and have no intention of increasing the price,” she confided.
Her two daughters both love to do hand embroidery like their mother. In their spare time, the two help their mother embroider which one or the other and are paid by her mother on par with other workers. In Kieu’s opinion, embroidery helps children practice meticulous diligence.
Once a person is directly affected by the Covid-19 epidemic, but this is a big turning point that helps this woman turn difficulties and challenges into opportunities and motivation for self-development. Thereby, this business model helps her to both continue her childhood passion and be financially proactive.
“I always hope that each mask I make will cause more people to use cloth masks. I think living optimistically instead of complaining and pessimistic because of the epidemic, a new door will open for me,” said Ms. Kieu, optimistic. To share.
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