
Thanh sitting in front of an embroidery frame, peaceful scene where the green garden is a great inspiration – photo: Ha Thanh
In vibrant youth, Nguyen Thi Phuong Thanh (Duc Trong District, Lam Dong), unlike her peers who were on the move, decided to step back. At the age of 24, he chose a peaceful place for himself.
and the “garden” is the land that Thanh and his wife had chosen as a place to stay. Thanh decides to go to the green garden with colorful embroidered frames.
select backwards
Thanh said that she had previously worked at several different jobs, such as working as a waitress at an ice cream parlor, selling clothing, and more. Although these jobs are tough, in return, they help her gain a lot of experience and connect with the people around her.
After spending time outside, Thanh is struggling to find a suitable job. He decided to return home.
In 2020, right around the time the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, Thanh fell in love with “Sui”. At first it was just embroidery to pass the time, but the more she embroidered, the more she became attracted to each stitch, the springy thread making her soul lighter and more comfortable than ever.
Than said, “I decided to learn more deeply and want to go much further in my career. This job also suits my health and personality.”
From the day she fell in love with embroidery, Thanh always wanted a peaceful place to create many inspirations and interesting ideas for embroidery. It is fortunate that her husband also holds the same point of view and has always supported his wife’s passion. He also likes gardening, taking care of plants and living in a quiet place.
In the morning their husbands go to work in the garden, Than stays at home to take care of the family and manage the household chores. Finally, the wife found time for herself to do embroidery. From the first stitch, they created products that were sewn onto the dress.
She is determined to practice simple to complex motifs to improve her skills. Thanh sought skilled people to learn from, gain experience for himself, and later boldly accepted orders.
Thanh remembers that the first order was from a doctor in Ho Chi Minh City. Doctor ordered embroidery during the pandemic. At first, Thanh was a little worried because his skills were still young and could not meet the requirements. But he regained his spirits and boldly accepted the orders to challenge himself. Keeping his worries aside, he devoted himself to this embroidery.
“The effort paid off, I got praise and thanks from the doctor which made me feel more confident. Thanks to the praise from the first client when I was a kid, it made me more motivated. A lot” – confided Than.

simple wedding day embroidery
Every stitch, a story
At a recent embroidery group, Phuong Thanh was particularly struck by the hand-embroidered photographs of wedding day frames that captured great moments of couples or special occasions.
The idea and inspiration for each embroidery starts from the things around, she said. Through each embroidery, she wants to bring a story, a meaningful message about love and life to those who love hand-embroidered products.
“For a hand-embroidered wedding or anniversary frame, it will be very meaningful and bring a lot of spiritual value to the recipient” – shared Phuong Thanh.
The time taken to complete each embroidery frame depends on the level of difficulty and size, from small to large, it takes an average of 1-2 weeks to complete an embroidery frame, he added. Because she likes to challenge herself, she sometimes creates her own pressure by copying pictures from real photos.
He explained that apart from the long time it took to complete the work, he also had difficulty choosing the right color scheme. There were days when she would forget to eat or sleep just to focus on the embroidery. In return, after challenges made by herself, she feels happy and grateful for the embroidery work that has helped her earn a fairly steady income.
Chosen to “go into hiding” at a young age, Thanh considers herself a happy woman. It is a joy to be with my husband, a joy to live in a fresh and peaceful garden, but perhaps it is the dream of many people on the busy streets there.
Phuong Thanh believes that every happiness has to be traded, life is one thing and kho is something else. In addition to days of constantly “beating deadlines” for paying clients, there would be some free days that would remind him of his family, friends, and the crowded city. To reclaim her spirit, Thanh went to the embroidery frame again, each embroidery stitch and colored thread to help her relive her old memories.