Gathering

On Sewing and the Fabric of Memory
In learning to make her own clothes, literary rising star Nina Mingya Powles beautifully reconsiders her relationship with fast fashion, material history and her own body and heritage

'To make a cotton cheongsam, you must first teach yourself how to sew.'

Every piece of clothing in the world is made by hand. We are encouraged to forget those invisible hands, but we should look more closely. In the hot locked-down spring of 2020, Nina Mingya Powles sewed her first piece of clothing, which led her on an inquisitive journey into making, fabric and fibre.

Knitting follows quilting follows sewing. Wool follows silk follows linen follows cotton. Memories of teenage fast fashion, swimming costumes and little black dresses unfold alongside sewing and knitting projects: artists' overalls, woollen scarves and dresses for weddings and funerals. A diasporic family history of making expands into the colonial inheritances of denim and gingham and the exploitation of modern garment workers. Throughout, the body is always present: both that of the wearer and the maker.

Deft and tender, Gathering celebrates the power of sewing and other slow forms of making, the material fibres that make up our everyday lives, and the layers of history and memory threaded into them.

PRAISE FOR NINA MINGYA POWLES:

'Funny, compact and beautifully written' New Statesman on Tiny Moons

'Remarkable' Robert Macfarlane on Small Bodies of Water

'Compelling and beautiful' Bhanu Kapil on Magnolia

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