Folk costume maker Elena Borta from Mihaesti, Valcea County, was named a Living Human Treasure at the end of last month, thus receiving nationwide recognition for this craft she learned from her family and which she passed on to her daughter Maria Foltea, a well-known folk needlework artist in her own right.

86-year-old Elena Borta says that she started sewing from a young age, and that her mother and grandmother instilled in her the love for traditional decorative sewing which she refined from a simple needle-on-canvas pastime into an art that produces genuinely amazing ornaments.

“I learned to sew at age 7, from my mother and my grandmother. I joined them as they worked, and I liked it very much. First I learned how to hem and then I made cross-stitches. The first shirt I finished is long gone, but I remember it was sewn with red because I was young and bubbly and I liked bright colors,” says the folk art creator from Valcea.

The representatives of the Valcea County Center for the Preservation and Promotion of Traditional Culture, the ones who proposed Elena Borta to the Culture Ministry for being named a Living Human Treasure, say that what is most remarkable about her needlework are the motifs whereby she decorates the shirt collars, “the color harmony of the stitches, with the symbols used complementing the piece of clothing, like the work of a plastic artist.”

Almost all the folk blouses, skirt panels and other pieces of clothing that came out of the hands of the folk seamstress from Mihaesti over the years are embellished with motifs specific to her native area.

“I usually sew local motifs, because we didn’t travel to other places to seek stitching patterns… I don’t know for sure when I made this rose-sewn shirt, but I love it for it has roses. Roses in the garden, roses on the shirt too… I like roses and set myself to put them on the shirt as well,” Elena Bortea says smilingly as she presents the collection of costumes she has at home, special pieces she couldn’t part with and that she has kept with great care.

Despite her old age, Elena Bortea has not given up sewing and even if she doesn’t work as much anymore, she is determined not to give up this craft she talks about very fondly, but also with a little sadness because “the youth are no longer attracted to needlework”.

She has been however a good mentor for her daughter, teacher Maria Foltea, who followed into her footsteps and now carries on the art of folk costumes sewing at a level just as exquisite and refined as her mother’s.

Elena Borta is the second Living Human Treasure in Valcea County, after ceramist Sorin Giubega from Horezu, who received this honorary title in 2021.