Having spent many winters in the South of France now, I am accustomed to seeing examples of fine boutis everywhere - and not just in museums. It is as integral to Provencal life as Bouillebaisse.
Maybe the examples I saw, covers for beds, quilted skirts, were always too large for me to ever consider I could make anything myself. Then I went to see the Tristan Quilt at the V&A - certainly not in my skills bracket! - but there was an introductory workshop, which I decided to attend to discover the how one would go about making such a piece in practice. With a little guidance I made a rather nice small pin-cushion
- and then I realised I was hooked. I had the confidence to try larger projects.
And this super book was a stepping stone in that journey. It is replete with easy to make yet interesting pieces such as lamp-shades, napkin rings, tea-pot cosies and so on. The Book is in French, but the diagrams are clear.
Here you can see some of those small projects - lovely for elegant needle-case covers - très raffinées!
The technique is simply defining pattern areas using back stitch or running stitch and then the pattern areas or channels are
puffed
by drawing thick cotton thread through with a bodkin - the type of cotton you might knit into a dishcloth. It really is that simple!
Below you can see one of the clear pattern templates with arrows showing the direction of drawing the cotton through. This book is in mint condition. It is hardback and has 96 pages with 19 easy to achieve projects.
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