Book Review: Mending Life by Nina and Sonya Montenegro

Mending Life: A Handbook for Repairing Clothes and Hearts
by Nina and Sonya Montenegro (646.2 Mon)

 

“There’s nothing broken that can’t be fixed.”

 

Concerned with the fast fashion trends, where the cost to the consumer may be cheap but the cost to the laborer can be dear, the sisters Nina and Sonya Montenegro have stitched together a book of quotes, instructions, and illustrations; their aim being aim to help anyone revive their treasured textiles.

 

This book discusses how to choose needles, fibers, and techniques for best results. The methods are covered sensibly and practically, easily accessible to anyone interested in learning basic techniques of mending, including sashiko, swiss darning, patching. You can find information to help mend down jackets, linen dresser scarves, favorite sweaters, even old “broken” socks. They encourage the reader to give mending a try.

 

Repairs add history and personality to your favorite pieces and honors the work of those who made the garment. It’s a natural process that happens around us all the time, and through mending your own items, you connect the past to the future.

 

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Joyful Mending by Noriko Misumi, Mending Matters: Stitch, Patch, and Repair Your Favorite Denim & More by Katrina Rodabaugh, Visible Mending: Artful Stitchery to Repair and Refresh Your Favorite Things by Jenny Wilding Cardon or Stitch Stories: Personal Places, Spaces and Traces in Textile Art by Cas Holmes.]

[ official Mending Life web site ] | [ official Nina Montenegro web site ] [ official Sonya Montenegro web site ]

 

Recommended by Carrie K.
Bennett Martin Public Library – Public Service

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Doodle Stitching: The Motif Collection

Doodle Stitching: The Motif Collection: 400+ Easy Embroidery Designs
by Aimée Ray [746.44 Ray]

If you haven't done embroidery before and want to give it a try, this is a great book to start with. It tells you about the basic stitches, has clear diagrams, and includes photos of what the stitch looks like on fabric. They have a number of step by step projects, and what I particularly like about this book is that they suggest variations for each project beyond using different colours. In the back half of the book are a wide array of motifs; they have baby, circus, flowers, food, space, under the sea, and a woodland fairytale among others. Included in the back is a CD with digital copies of all the motifs, making it easy to make enlargements or to combine multiple motifs into an arrangement. Over all the book does a very nice job on making things so clear and simple, even to someone who has never attempted embroidery before. [If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Doodle Stitching: Fresh & Fun Embroidery for Beginners also by Aimée Ray.] -- recommended by Kristen A. - Gere Branch Library

[ official Aimee Ray web site ]
 
Have you read this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewers recommendations!