Description
In a new home, relationships shift, and ties fray. Bound: A Memoir of Making and Remaking is a collection of essays about sewing and knowing who you are.
Each chapter in this sewist’s diary charts the crafting of a different garment. From a lining embroidered with the names of her female ancestors to a dressing gown holding the body of a beloved friend, Maddie Ballard navigates love, personal connections, and self-care, drafting her own patterns for ways of living.
Lyrical, probing, soothing and wise, Bound is a strikingly original debut and a quiet celebration of the remarkable, everyday process of making and re-making: of cloth, of clothing, and of ourselves.
Praise for Bound
“Bound is a gorgeous, tender exploration of the craft of sewing and how we carve out spaces for ourselves. Written with lightness and care, Maddie Ballard traces her journey into textiles and threads, stitching the pieces together and examining how the clothes we wear reflect our relationship with the world around us.“ – Nina Mingya Powles, author of Tiny Moons, Magnolia, 木è˜, and Small Bodies of Water“Through the elegant, pulsing ‘stitchwork of sentences,’ Maddie Ballard muses on identities, relationships, the pandemic, sustainable fashion, quilts, cheongsams, ancestors, and the myriad fragments of a lyrically depicted quotidian.” – Edvige Giunta, coeditor of Embroidered Stories: Interpreting Women’s Domestic Needlework from the Italian Diaspora“This is a beautiful memoir about the human relationship to making and mending things, ethical consumption and culture in clothing and fabric. There is nothing I could say that does the prose justice. All I know is that I will visit this book again, wearing it as a warm coat to stay warm every time the world feels too cold to bear it.” – Lucy Rose, author of The Lamb (Orion, 2025)
“Maddie Ballard makes making clothes into a celebration of living and suffering and finding joy. Wonderful.” – Victoria Finlay, author of Fabric: The Hidden History of the Material World
“I’d been putting off my review of this for the main reason of feeling unable to encapsulate my thoughts on just how beautifully written and captivating this essay collection is… It’s a book I want to both keep for myself but also gift to everyone I know. It’s an collection I know I will return to over and over and be inspired and warmed by every time.” – @icedcoffeedaydreams_
“This is a graceful, enriching book about a young woman making her way in the world and figuring out what is essential to her sense of home and identity.” – Rebecca Foster, Bookish Beck
“I’d highly recommend for sewers and non-sewers alike: this is a book for anyone who’s tried to remake themselves in a new place, anyone who’s ever tried to make art, anyone who’s thinking about what they inherit from family and what we can give back” – @thehungrybookreader
“A lovely book to wrap yourself in like a hand-made coat.” – Liz Dexter, Libro Fulltime
“A tactile, evocative collection from a brilliant writer.” – Claire Mabey for The Spinoff’s best NZ books of 2024
“Ballard has a particular knack for exploring how clothing and creation impacts the way we feel about ourselves – and how sewing forces you to examine yourself without judgment and then consciously treat yourself with love […] Tightly and thoughtfully crafted, Bound is the gentle, insightful read we all need when times are tough and a little kindness, to ourselves and others, is in order.” – Claire Williamson, Kete Books
