Best Books to Give (and Get) in 2019!

December 23, 2019

The holidays are fast-approaching and what better gift to give than a book on textiles? Surface Design Association presents our countdown spotlighting some of our favorite books that came out in 2019–perfect for any fibers fan. Whether you’re into contemporary approaches, technical skills, or project ideas, this list has got you covered!

“Fibershed: Growing a Movement of Farmers, Fashion Activists, and Makers for a New Textile Economy”

By: Rebecca Burgess

Buy: Chelsea Green Publishing or Amazon

“In Fibershed readers will learn how natural plant dyes and fibers such as wool, cotton, hemp, and flax can be grown and processed as part of a scalable, restorative agricultural system. They will also learn about milling and other technical systems needed to make regional textile production possible. Fibershed is a resource for fiber farmers, ranchers, contract grazers, weavers, knitters, slow-fashion entrepreneurs, soil activists, and conscious consumers who want to join or create their own fibershed and topple outdated and toxic systems of exploitation.”

“Eco-Dyed Art Journals: Using Nature’s Imprints”

By: Susan Brooks

Buy: Susan Brooks or Amazon

“Bring the beauty of nature to your art journals. Transform paper and journals with flower and leaf printing and plant-based dyes.”

“The Conscious Closet: The Revolutionary Guide to Looking Good While Doing Good”

By: Elizabeth L Cline

Buy: Penguin Random House or Amazon

“Whether your goal is to build an effortless capsule wardrobe, keep up with trends without harming the environment, buy better quality, seek out ethical brands, or all of the above, The Conscious Closet is packed with the vital tools you need. Elizabeth delves into fresh research on fashion’s impacts and shows how we can leverage our everyday fashion choices to change the world through style.”

“Vanishing Fleece: Adventure in American Wool”

By: Clara Parkes

Buy: Abrams Books or Amazon

“Join Clara Parkes on a cross-country adventure and meet a cast of characters that includes the shepherds, dyers, and countless workers without whom our knitting needles would be empty, our mills idle, and our feet woefully cold. Travel the country with her as she meets a flock of Saxon Merino sheep in upstate New York, tours a scouring plant in Texas, visits a steamy Maine dyehouse, helps sort freshly shorn wool on a working farm, and learns how wool fleece is measured, baled, shipped, and turned into skeins.”

“Threads of Life: A History of the World Through the Eye of a Needle”

By: Clare Hunter

Buy: Abrams Books or Amazon

“Threads of Life is a chronicle of identity, protest, memory, power, and politics told through the stories of needlework. Clare Hunter, master of the craft, threads her own narrative as she takes us over centuries and across continents—from medieval France to contemporary Mexico and the United States, and from a POW camp in Singapore to a family attic in Scotland—to celebrate the age-old, universal, and underexplored beauty and power of sewing.”

“Mending Matters: Stitch, Patch, and Repair Your Favorite Denim and More”

By: Katrina Rodabaugh

Buy: Abrams Books or Amazon

“Mending Matters explores sewing on two levels: First, it includes more than 20 hands-on projects that showcase current trends in visible mending that are edgy, modern, and bold—but draw on traditional stitching. It does all this through just four very simple mending techniques: exterior patches, interior patches, slow stitches, darning, and weaving. In addition, the book addresses the way mending leads to a more mindful relationship to fashion and to overall well-being.”

“Yayoi Kusama: All About My Love”

By: Yayoi Kusama and Akira Shibutami

Buy: Thames & Hudson or Amazon

“Avant-garde artist Yayoi Kusama’s matchless creativity and originality have been captivating the world since she moved from Matsumoto, her hometown in Nagano, Japan, to the USA in 1958. In the last ten years alone, her retrospective exhibitions in four major European and American museums, including Tate Modern, London, and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, have seen record attendance.”

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