A stitch in time

Reed Family Linens, a private label manufacturer of fine linen based in the United Kingdom is working with Nkandla Embroiderers, a group of rural women funded by the IDC.

As part of its Corporate Social Investment (CSI) programme, the IDC funded the training and up-skilling of the Nkandla Embroiderers, based in Kwazulu-Natal to ensure that they could meet the quality required to produce work for the export market.

Over the past two years, the women have demonstrated that they were capable of producing high-quality work by supplying Chrysalis Lifestyle, a supplier of exclusive bed linen based in Midrand near Johannesburg.  This served as a test run to demonstrate that they were capable of producing export-quality embroidery for other companies such as Reed Family Linens.

The IDC-funded training was undertaken by Khumbulani Craft, a non-governmental organisation dedicated to the poverty alleviation of rural communities, particularly women, in Kwazulu-Natal and Mpumalanga.  It achieves its purpose through the design, production, marketing and sale of traditional and contemporary craft.

For the past three years, the IDC’s CSI focus has been primarily on rural areas.

During their training, the embroiderers learnt the particular stitches required by Reed Family linens and graduated when quality controllers from the company were satisfied with the level of their work.  The women will now embroider bed linen, towels and robes, quilts and pillows for Reed Family Linens.

Khumbulani Craft will also assist the women in establishing themselves as an independent business entity with the skills, resources and capacity to operate a fully functional hand embroidery business.

Women from the Nkandla Embroiders in Kwazulu-Natal are making a name for themselves in the United Kingdom with their embroidered products.

For the past three years, the IDC’s CSI focus has been primarily on rural areas. The IDC chose to fund the Nkandla Embroiderers because the project is based in a rural area,  had a bias towards women and had shown that it had the ability to sustain itself beyond IDC funding – all key requirements of the IDC’s CSI qualification requirements.

The IDC was also impressed with Khumbulani Craft’s approach which is based on providing access to markets and product quality certification for the group of women.  The craft industry in South Africa is notorious for exploiting rural workers, buying their crafts cheaply and making a huge profit without empowering communities.  This project, however, will enable the women of Nkandla to own their business and produce beautiful hand-embroidered goods for international markets, while empowering their communities.