Taal's best-and oldest-embroiderer.

Philippine Daily Inquirer

April 18, 2002 | Copyright

Byline: Mei Magsino, PDI Southern Luzon Bureau

TAAL, Batangas-For Taal's best embroiderer, the secret to her unique, lasting and sought-after embroidery lies not in the thread, nor in the needle or the cloth.

"To make the perfect embroidery, you have to fall in love with the craft," Lola Fabianita Padua said, putting the finishing touches to the embroidered tablecloth she has been making for almost a week.

Seventy-eight-year-old Padua, also known as Lola Fabing, started her love affair with embroidery when she was only 12 years old.

Embroidery was her only love, and yet for 66 years, she said, she has never grown tired of it, perfecting the craft that has been handed down to her by her mother, grandmother and great grandmother whose art has also been recognized as the town's best designs.

She amazes tourists who visit the town for her 20-20 vision. She wears eyeglasses only in the afternoon when her eyes get tired of embroidering.

"I guess it is destiny that I will grow old with my one and only love everyday," Padua said, referring to her embroidery.

When she started embroidering at the age of 12, she felt better off than her teachers who used to earn only P100 a month.

"That time, I earned P150 a week. So I didn't continue my schooling. I didn't go to high school because I was earning more than enough," she said.

Now, she earns at least P1,800 per project.

She is now teaching her nieces the technique of perfecting the craft.

Padua also shows off her skill to students on field trip to Taal and tourists who visit the national heritage town.

Her regular clients include Patis Tesoro, Rene Salud and the members of the town and province's high society.

Padua still wears her kimona every time a guest comes to watch her work.

The town's tourism office has also arranged every travel group in town to include visiting the famed Lola Fabing's embroidery in its schedule.

And like a child proud of her work, she beams in every demonstration.

First, she draws her designs, mostly of flowers, on a wax paper, then she cuts out the designs, leaving only the lines of the drawings.

She then spreads the wax paper on a piece of cloth.

Afterward, she spreads the blue dye over the cutout wax paper. The blue design will be left on the cloth.

From that design, Padua traces with needle and thread.

The result will be one of Taal's unique embroidery.

Padua has her way of determining if the embroidery has been done by machine.

"If you cut a thread of embroidery and all of it goes with just one pull, it's machine-embroidered. With handmade embroidery, no matter how much you pull the thread, the design remains intact," she said.

Now on her twilight years, and with no children of her own to train, Padua is racing with time to teach her nieces and cousins' grandchildren the slowly vanishing art of embroidery known only from Taal.

"What's really disheartening is when I see the girls prefer texting and watching TV over preserving our family and this town's legacy of beautiful embroideries. But I can't blame them. I don't think I could make them fall in love with embroidery like I did," she said.

Taal's tourism officer Chato Bonsol, who also guides tourists to Padua's house, said embroidering is now included in the town's school curriculum to preserve one of Taal's greatest treasures.

"One of the Filipina patriots was Marcela Agoncillo. She was the one who embroidered the Philippine flag," Padua said.

"Embroidery is a part of our history. I just hope it lives longer than history."