The Sewing Project

I mentioned last time about the seamstresses that have been trained by, and working for, MiVAC. Well, we had to stop paying them at the beginning of March. That was always the intention. They now have to fend for themselves and put their work on a commercial basis.

The seamstresses, Xi the supervisor (2nd left) and 2 children modelling the uniforms.

One of the ladies is 22 years old, the others are 17 and have been brought up in very small Hmong villages - hamlets, really - 30 - 40km from the great metropolis of Phonsavan. A few weeks ago I took them to Luang Prabang (see my last post). This was the first time any of them had been further than Phonsavan. They have never been to their capital city of Vientiane. They have never seen the sea. They were educated at the school in Ban Xai which was built with Japanese funding a few years ago. Two of them come from Hinmou Peung which is 8km from the school. More on that later.

Most of them have mobile phones which are basic models from many years ago. None of them has access to internet. So am I just going to dump them into the commercial world? No. Funnily enough I feel very responsible for them. They are such lovely women, they are so polite, shy, keen and hard-working. What do they know about starting and running a business? For that matter, what do I know about it? Now you see how much trouble they are in!!

I told them what I was planning and they were very enthusiastic. I asked Mr Moua, my 'farm' supervisor if he knew what an iPad was. "Yes" he replied. "OK, good. Here are the dimensions for the latest iPads and Kindles. Please will you make me 3?" He looked slightly startled and I added, "Out of wood". These 3 'blanks' are different sizes and I reckon that covers to fit these 3 blanks will fit the 16 latest iPads and Kindles.

That weekend I worked out how to make an iPad cover, what size and shape the material had to be, where to fold and stitch the material so one had to make the fewest cuts and stitches. I measured, cut and folded bits of paper, drew shapes, measured again. I was pretty pleased with my design.

Monday morning Xang and I went to the 'dry market' looking for Lao made cotton, black velcro and flat sponge for the padding. I don't even know if such a thing exists but I have in my head the sort of thing I'm looking for. At one stall I found a jacket with padded shoulders and I squeezed it saying, "Like this". Got 3 pieces of cotton in different colours and one length of locally made silk. Could only get white velcro - it'll have to do for the prototypes. Found a stallholder who knew what we meant by sponge foam but he had run out. So we bought a synthetic fibre blanket instead - only 50,000 Kip = AU$7 !

At the farm on Monday, through Xang, and with the use of my origami iPad cover, I tried to explain what I wanted. They didn't understand me. So, I sat with them and cut material, Hua stitched it as I directed on an old Singer sewing machine (treadle-powered), stuffed it with some blanket, turned it inside out, folder it, more stitching, done! It was a bit too fat so we took half the blanket out. Mate, I thought it looked good! It was meant to be for the largest iPad/Kindles. However, my hours of measurements and origami were to no avail because, of course, the smallest wooden blank would only just fit into it!

I need to trade-in 2 of the sewing machines that don't work for a decent industrial-strength machine that can take the pace. And get one of those edge-stitching (over-locker?) machines that doesn't keep breaking down. Mmmm, funding....

Tuesday I spent some time building a spreadsheet of costs for a sewing business - some things I had no idea about - like how much a roll of sponge foam costs or what the transport cost is from Vientiane. I emailed the contacts in Luang Prabang to let them know we are still in radar cover. One replied that 2 of our ladies should come to Ock Pop Tok for 2 weeks to train and develop designs. Ock Pop Tok is a craft centre which works exclusively with Lao people and materials. They produce their own products on the premises but they also bring in products from villagers around Lao PDR to sell in their shop. Great idea to work with them but how am I going to fund $500? MiVAC said they may but they are having trouble raising money for the major, core work in Phase 3 - I may be moving into a guest house because we are struggling to find enough money to pay the year's rent in advance on the house to allow me to stay in it. Well, if I can't find anybody to help, I'll pay it myself. I really believe in these ladies - they only need a little more capital investment to get this thing moving! How great would that be to set up 5 Hmong ladies in a remote village in Lao PDR with a viable business and help them lift themselves out of poverty? I have to try. 

On Wednesday we went to the market on the way to the farm and for lunch we had a fish barbecue and beer to mark the end of the ladies’ employment with MiVAC. I only had one glass, Xang had a couple, Moua, my Hmong farm supervisor had a couple and the 6 girls polished off the rest - probably 10 large Beerlao bottles (640ml) between them!!

After lunch Hua and I talked (through Moua) and I think she understands what I want in the iPad cover line.

To Ban Xai again on the Friday. The ladies have completed (or nearly) seven iPad covers. Some are acceptable as prototypes but others not quite so good. Anyway they had all produced at least one of their own design so I was very pleased and congratulated them all. They also gave me a school uniform skirt, shirt and trousers as samples which, I thought, were excellent. The photos below show the first prototype - which I have used continuously since this day.

This is my Kindle cover which has been in continuous use

Kindle cover

I went to Luang Prabang (LP) to see my brother-in-law and whilst I was there I took the opportunity to go back to Ock Pop Tok (OPT) to see the Co-Director I met last time. She said the samples of uniform were very good for people who had only been sewing for 4 months. OPT need more production capacity and would like to offer our ladies some work. We agreed a date for 2 of the ladies to come to OPT for a fortnight's training and product development. OPT will pay for tuk tuks to and from the guest house and lunch - we have to cover the rest. MiVAC have come up with enough money for the training trip and the two machines we need. It's all coming together!!

Later I went to the high-end gift shop to meet the VP Operations who was very helpful and took the bags to examine. Later that day I returned and was given a written critique of the bags. She said the bags were good enough quality for the Night Market but were too expensive to compete with Chinese produced products. It's all in the design - we must make them uniquely Hmong or Lao to be able to charge the premium her customers will pay. She couldn't use them at the moment but I was to come back when we had improved the design and quality. 

A few days ago I went to Hinmou Peung to visit Hua and, just near the school in Ban Xai, we passed 5 kids walking along the road who looked between 6 and 10 years old. My Hmong colleague, Xang, stopped to give them a lift but they ran away - apparently frightened of us. As we left Hinmou Peung, nearly 3 hours later, they were just approaching the village. They had walked in 32 deg C humid heat along a very dusty road. They had been in school all week (staying in a dormitory at the school at night) and set off at 1030 for their 3 hour walk home. They don't have to walk if they can get a lift (with someone they trust, apparently) and if it hasn't rained and the road is not mud and the river is not too swollen and the vehicles can cross the ford. We used to let the ladies from Hinmou Peung who worked for MiVAC sleep in the sewing room. 

Hua's house was typical of a Hmong village home. Very humble, traditional dirt floors, wooden plank walls, grass roof, several adults, lots of kids, chickens, dogs. Xang and I explained what I had been told about the samples of their work in Luang Prabang. Also gave her a briefing on her training with Der Yang in LP with Ock Pop Tok next week.

Hua and Der Yang went to LP on 2 days ago and apparently the first full day went fine. I resisted the temptation to ring again today to see how they were going - didn't want to seem like I was fussing.

I have some ideas for marketing the iPad covers but I'm not sure I will be able to get them all implemented before I leave next month. I'll do my best....