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 Cantonese 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.

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 Wellington. She can be found @maddieballard27 on Instagram or at fieldnotesonfeeling.substack.com. Bound is her first book.