I came across this girl creating a Flowery Hmong collar while trekking near Bac Ha. Next to her she had a basket of thin rick-rack and cords, which she was laboriously stitching onto a double layer of backing fabrics to gradually create the concentric circles of a collar. She had a special foot for her sewing machine to keep the cord flowing under the needle.

Front and back:

Creating skirts in the same way must be quite unwieldy as the finished fabric becomes quite stiff.

Earlier in the same day we had stopped to chat to this girl who had taken her cross-stitching out to the main trail where she could watch people coming and going and socialise a little. This panel would be destined for a skirt

Here’s a view of the reverse when the cross-stitched panel is joined to a section with parallel rick-rack and cord lines:

See the full outfits at Can Cau Market