Doing embroidery on ladies garments has become a passion and an important source of earning for nearly a thousand women and young girls in five villages in Kishoreganj district.  They are now busy in needle works and in making designs on saris and kameez (long skirt) to add value and attractive ahead of the Eid-ul-Fitr, the biggest festival which  Muslims in Bangladesh and elsewhere in the world will celebrate on the third week of July after the fasting month of Ramzan.
 The women after finishing their household works do embroidery on sari, kameez and dupattas (scarf) for earning extra money. Girls, who cannot continue their studies due to financial constraints, have also been engaged in this sector for their economic self-reliance. About a thousand women of five villages, including Daliarchar and Nodar villages in Sadar upazila and Gangatia, Lakuhati and Gabindapur villages in Hossainpur upazila, earn their livelihood mostly through embroidery works. These women with flawless designs make exquisite pieces of artworks on garments with colorful threads and stones, known as ‘Jari’ Chumki and ‘Puti’.
Mati Mia, a farmer of Lakuhati village, could no longer bear the expenses of higher studies in college of his elder daughter and send two younger daughters and a son to schools due to financial constraints. After Nipa Akter dropped out of college for financial problem and her mother Parvin Akter needed to supplement family income suddenly came the opportunity to earn money sitting at home.
One day, they saw a woman in neighborhood doing embroidery needle works on a sari sitting on the veranda of her house. This came as a turning point in their life. They got involved in the work within four days and completed embroidery work on a piece of sari and earned Tk 500.  
Nipa Akter has started going to her college again. She said if she had not started the work at that time she would not have continued her study and help her family.
Born in poor families Nasima Begum and Morzina Akter – the two school students of the same village – have also followed the footsteps of Nipa Akter. They took up the jobs of needle works and could continue their studies.
Haresa Khatun of Daliarchar village in Sadar upazila, said doing embroidery work on a piece of sari generally she takes a week and costs Tk 500 to Tk 700. The finished saris are taken to Dhaka where a single piece of sari sells at Tk 5,000 to Tk 15,000.
Rahima Khatun, Jesmin Akter, Rina Begum and Nurunnahar of Nodar village said after completing the embroidery works, businessmen take the items back to Dhaka to sell those to shops in malls and markets.
This correspondent saw that at least 10 to 15 women were sewing and doing embroidery work in a house in Lakuhati area. Besides, several other women of the village are doing the same work and they are trying to remove their poverty and continue to send their  children to schools and colleges .
Md Shafiqul Islam, a social worker of the district, said about a thousand of poor women are now engaged in the embroidery industry in Kishoreganj, which has offered the poor and helpless women a great opportunity to become self-reliant.
These women and girls should be given proper training in sewing, embroidery and design to raise the standard of such products, he said.