The Writer’s Center presents a FREE virtual book launch! We’re joined by writer Maddie Ballard to discuss her debut memoir, Patchwork: A Sewist’s Diary. Maddie is in conversation with Betsy Greer.
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Maddie Ballard is a writer and editor of mixed Chinese heritage. Born in Syracuse, New York, she grew up in Aotearoa New Zealand and currently lives in Melbourne, Australia.
Betsy Greer believes that making can serve as a balm, a buoy, and a lighthouse. Since 2023, she’s shared how textiles have been used in modernity and throughout history to connect and empower humans in a variety of ways. To learn about her writing, creative practice, talks, and workshops, visit hellobetsygreer.com.
About the Book
Lyrical, probing, soothing, and wise, Patchwork is a strikingly original debut and a celebration of the remarkable, everyday process of making and remaking: of story, of clothing, and of ourselves.
In Patchwork, a charming and evocative sewist’s diary, Maddie Ballard explores the making (and sometimes remaking) of seventeen specific garments over a period of great change in her life—from a jacket lined with the embroidered Cantonese names of her female ancestors, to a dressing gown made as a gift for a dear friend, to an eco-friendly, zero-waste dress.
As the wardrobe grows, so too does Maddie. From her first off-kilter dresses and coats to perfectly fitting pants, readers follow along as she learns to navigate the world around her and how she sees herself in it—both as she is and as she hopes to be. Stitch by stitch, word by word, Maddie drafts her own patterns for ways of living. Throughout the diary, delightful illustrations bring Maddie’s creations to life on the page.
With a focus on the practical comfort and pleasure provided by sewing in a time of personal renewal, Patchwork: A Sewist’s Diary is a warmhearted celebration of the value of craft in the modern age.
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