Heart-warming blankets sewn by Vietnamese Grandma Tu

For more than seven years, Tran Thi Vang, also known as Grandma Tu, in Ho Chi Minh City’s outlying district of Binh Chanh, has given away numerous handmade blankets to people in need. 

The idea came to Grandma Tu when she saw a stock of leftover fabrics discharged by her daughter. 

At the age of 80, she starts a day by sitting in front of a sewing machine at 5:00 am sharp. 

At the beginning, Grandma Tu sewed blankets using leftover fabrics from her daughter’s tailor shop.

As she became more interested in doing this job, Grandma Tu and her children started spending their own money buying rolls of cloth tailor-made for blankets. 

She sews around ten blankets a day which will be later sent to a nearby pagoda and local charity groups for distribution. 

“Sitting all day by a sewing machine, I still feel happy and motivated,” she said. 

“It is heart-warming knowing that other people will have cozy nights with my blankets. 

“I think it is much more meaningful when I give away blankets which they can keep and use every day, instead of simply donating money.”

Grandma Tu said she did not know when she would stop as securing restful sleep for marginalized people was still her priority.