Song Shuixian guides her daughter-in-law Wu Yongzhi in making a horse tail embroidery piece. The 29-year-old high school English teacher has volunteered to take the traditional craft to the classroom, teaching her students how to sew as an extra-curricular activity.[Photo provided to China Daily]

"Let me tell you this. I may be the first to apply horse tail embroidery to clothes," says Song.

In the past, the embroidery only appeared on small garments such as baby straps and aprons.

Song found places for the embroidery on everyday clothes, photo frames and notebooks, thereby increasing its commercial value.

To Song, her enterprise has always been as much about breathing life into the traditional craft as taking the women of the Shui ethnic group with her. Over the past two decades of her career, Song has mostly engaged a team of about 20 local women by providing them with sewing work that allows them to both make a living and raise a family.

According to Wei Niang, a seamstress who has worked with Song for over a decade, Song never holds off from paying her seamstresses, even when she is cash-strapped. If she is particularly pleased with someone's work, she won't hesitate to reward her with an immediate bonus.