Profile of a boutisseuse - Marie Silvestre

It is always fascinating to me to observe how others approach designing their own boutis.  Marie has just completed a beautiful, original boutis which will be displayed at at upcoming show.  I have had the pleasure of seeing her work before, at the first salon of France Boutis in May 2012.  Go over to her blog and take a look at her latest works, then go back and browse older posts with some of her other projects.  Don't forget to leave her comments, she loves to hear what people think of her boutis.

Marie gave me permission to describe how she designed this boutis so you have some idea of the time and dedication involved.  In October, there will be a boutis festival in the village of Calvisson, Gard, as there is every 2 years (see the link to the right, La Maison du Boutis).  The challenge presented by the founder  Mme  Francine Nicolle, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the boutis association,  was to design and execute a boutis on the theme of "In the Gardens of the King".

Marie started work back in March.  She knew what she wanted to draw, and avoided any problems of perspective by making her work an aerial view.  After a number of hours spent on drawing the designs, she transferred them to a large sheet of paper.  She says this was not easy, but she is patient.  To give you an idea, she spent 60 hours on the design.  Tracing onto fabric took another 8 hours.  She started stitching on April 10 and finished on August 24, taking a total of 551 hours to complete the entire piece.   "My Royal Garden" measures 74 x 63 cm.    Fabulous, isn't it ?