The man who turns scraps of fabric into paintings

Mrs. Chat (Mr. Chat's wife) with her late husband's sewing creations. Photo: Diep Phuong

That is the story we happened to hear and admire the works of the late tailor Bui Van Chat (born in 1938, died in 2004) in Bich Thi hamlet, Thanh Giang commune (Thanh Chuong). Although he passed away more than a decade ago, the portraits and decorative paintings he sewed are still kept by many local customers.

Not only is he respected by the local tailoring community for his number one skills, he is also admired by everyone for his creativity and uniqueness when sewing vivid pictures from scraps of fabric. Mrs. Chat (his wife) said that when he saw small, beautiful scraps of fabric but threw them away, he felt sorry so he saved them up and took advantage of the days when he had no customers, he took the fabric he picked out, chose the colors and combined those pieces of fabric into the faces of some friends, sewing them into portraits to give to his friends. With this unique gift, Mr. Chat surprised his friends with his creativity. Expressing the facial expression is very difficult in a portrait, but Mr. Chat has researched a very unique way to combine scraps of fabric to match the skin color, hair color, creating soul for the eyes and face of the character.

Mr. Chat's portrait sewn from scraps of fabric. Photo: Diep Phuong

In addition, he also sews decorative paintings such as Spring - Summer - Autumn - Winter, flowers, mountains and forests, etc., very beautiful and delicate from scraps of fabric. Not too fussy or complicated, the paintings are arranged symmetrically, the colors are chosen elegantly and especially each painting is arranged by him with gentle accents to increase the attraction of the work.

Recalling the days when she helped her husband sew, Mrs. Chat shared: “He had a rich imagination, he drew them, then put the scraps of fabric together, and sewed them into pictures. His sewing method was also very strange, even though he sewed on the wrong side, he couldn’t see what he was sewing, but with some special sense he still sewed correctly and beautifully down to the smallest detail.”

Four paintings of Spring - Summer - Autumn - Winter made from scraps of fabric by Mr. Chat. Photo: Diep Phuong

When he was old, Mr. Chat wanted to learn how to sew sacrificial objects, such as: votive doors, parallel sentences, etc. With his natural talent and diligence, Mr. Chat successfully sewed many sacrificial works, which were loved by people and were sought after for orders. Currently, many of the products he sewed are still kept in churches and many families in Thanh Chuong district.