Shenaini | Artisans

Artisans

THE ARTISANS

The Miao women who embroider for us live in villages in the countryside and travel in by bus once of twice a month to bring their finished embroideries to sell to us. Most of our seamstresses live in our small city and, even though they are more assimilated to the Chinese culture, prefer to communicate with their Miao language. Their love of the Miao culture and language is one both the seamstresses and the village embroidery ladies all have in common.

We invite you to watch the interviews with Sharon, the Miao owner of Hunan Ethnic Crafts, and Ying Tao, a village embroidery lady who helped develop the beautiful embroidered products we feature on this website.

Sharon | Manager

Sharon has been making our Shenaini products for more than 17 years. She started out working in her home, when her son was still a baby, to sew products for Mr. Liu, the local man with whom we partnered to develop our hand embroidered products. When we bought our house in which we started a small workshop, Sharon came on board as both a seamstress and the supervisor for our small group of Miao ladies.

In 2020, Sharon became the owner of Hunan Ethnic Crafts when the founders, Paul and Dorothy Lacy, returned to America to further develop Shenaini for marketing Sharon's products in America. But Sharon knows everything about the running of this company, from the sewing process to the ordering and shipping. Sharon, a Miao woman from a small village, has also learned English and the computer and has become one the best managers we have had in the 15 years we have been in business. Now, as the business owner, she has grown into quite an entrepreneur!

WATCH HER STORY

Ying-tao | Embroidery lady

We met Ying Tao through our business partners, Mr. and Mrs. Liu, in 2003. She and a few other Miao ladies in her village were embroidering fabric for our Shenaini products. As we developed more sophisticated handbags, Ying Tao skillfully took on the task of designing embroidery patterns using the traditional Miao embroidery styles.

Ying Tao is the women’s leader in her village, and she began to train many other women to do the high-quality embroidery for us. Now, when she visits our workshop to bring her embroidered cloth to us, at least 5 or 6 older Miao women from her village accompany her to bring in their handiwork.

WATCH HER STORY

Embroidery Ladies

Liu Lan Xiang

I went to city to work before, but later I came back here, my boss welcomed me again.
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Liang Fan Mei

We have worked here for a long time, it has been 15 years. Our bosses treated us well, he welcome us, we are very happy and satisfied.
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Long Yingtao

We have been doing embroidery work for 15 years, I feel so happy in my heart. Our bosses treated us well, they invites us to go dinner every new year, gives us red pocket. One day if our bosses leave, we will miss them so much, we want to stay with them forever.
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Wu Xin Hua

I have been working here for seven years, i can earn some money for buying some cloth every month.
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Ou Ni Hua

In this 15 years, I am very happy to work here. Our bosses treated us especially good. They give us a gift evry year, like the bag I am wearing now.
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Wu Hua Jing

I used to just do embroidery for myself. The company liked my work so much that they gave me a lot to do in my home. But it wasn't enough to support my family. So the Lacy's offered me a full time job in their factory. Now I have learned a lot of other skills.
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Long Yune

When my house washed away in a flood, the foreigners came to see what they could do. I was so sad. Mrs. Dorothy had an embroidered purse and asked if I can do that. Later, they taught me how. Now I work full time in their factory and I an in charge of all quality control and packaging!
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