Born and raised in the hand-embroidery village of Vu Thu in Thai Binh, Cuc, 35, now lives in Hanoi. She began learning embroidery very early from her mother.

When she turned 9 or 10 years old, she could make finished products. However, when she grew up, she did not choose embroidery, but decided on another career. 

In 2015, Cuc thought of restoring the traditional hand-embroidery profession, which gradually disappeared in her home village. However, she faced many difficulties when implementing the plan.

“The biggest difficulty was that customers did not have confidence in our products and did not think we could do this as well as they wanted. It was really difficult to find buyers,” she recalled.

Cuc once had to sell all of her assets to get money to compensate clients as she mistakenly used fading embroidery thread. However, Cuc never thought of giving up.

Viewing difficulties as motivation, Cuc made every effort in her path of starting a business. She tried to make her products special and more beautiful.

Cuc began trying to make 3D embroidery on Bodhi leaves when a learner asked her to give guidance. She also wanted to do deeper research on 3D embroidery art in order to create more sophisticated patterns on difficult materials instead of ordinary fabrics. And then she decided to try bodhi leaf bones.

Cuc chose Bodhi leaves because of their durability and eye-catching shape. Bodhi leaves also have great meaning and bear the value of life. 

“I want to breathe life into the leaves and revive them, making them return to life with a newer image,” she explained.

Cuc said there were difficulties when embroidering on Bodhi leaves. First, it was difficult to find intact, unbroken leaves. Second, it was difficult to find people who are patient and clever with their hands. 

It is more difficult to embroider on leaves than on fabric. The leaves will tear because of minor mistakes. It is also not easy to sell products because the production costs are high.

The time needed to do embroidery depends on the size of leaves and patterns. She has to spend one day on a product, while she needs a month to do other work. Her products are priced between VND400,000 and VND5 million.

She mostly embroiders calligraphy and flowers associated with positive meanings. In addition, she often embroiders animals and landscapes.

Ha Nguyen