Barbara Burman: The Point of the Needle – Why Sewing Matters
Tens of millions of people sew for necessity or pleasure every day, yet the craft is surprisingly under-appreciated. This book argues for sewing’s place in our lives, celebrating not only sewing’s recent resurgence but sewists’ creativity, well-being, and community. Barbara Burman chronicles the voices of people who sew today, by hand or machine, to explore what they sew, what motivates them, what they value, and why they mend. Inevitably, this leads to revealing insights into sewing’s more intimate stories.
In our age of superfast fashion with its environmental and social injustices, this eloquent book makes a passionate case for identity, diversity, resilience, and memory—what people create for themselves as they stitch and make.
Barbara is a writer and former academic at both the University of Southampton and the University of the Arts, London. She has written extensively about women, dressmaking, sewing and the cultures of consumption. Barbara will be in conversation with novelist and seamstress Sarah Steele.
