Reviewed by Meri
Visible Mending
Arounna Khounnoraj
Published in 2020 by Quadrille
160 pages. $22.99 US
ISBN: 978-1-78713-610-6
Multi-talent textile artist Arounna spends much of her free time on a wide variety of mending, and this book is a comprehensive showcase of her methods. It is inspiring to see how she makes the worn-out clothes wearable again (Repair), freshen up dated clothes with needlework (Renew), and make something entirely new from old textiles (Reuse.) As a mother of an infant boy, I have plenty of opportunity to use those techniques, and hope to make something special to accompany his life.
Urban Quilting
Wendy Chow
Published in 2021 by Paige Tate & Co.
155 pages. $21.95 US
ISBN: 978-1950968190
Through the featured article in this issue (p.72) I learned about modern quilting and searched for more resources. Urban Quilting by Wendy Chow is my absolute favorite amongst a dozen of books I recently purchased. Starting with a charming story about how she came to live in New York, the book introduces a collection of efficient and logical methods of quilting, which she learned from trials and errors, and through various classes. Combined with pop and stylish geometric designs of her own, this book presents a new perspective to modern quilting.
Finger Puppets from Russia
Miho Ioka
Published in 2021 by Sangyo Henshu Center
76 pages. ¥1400 JPY
ISBN: 978-4-86311-285-8
Miho is the owner of Bolik Coffee in Nara, and a buyer for Russian household items. Almost 15 years ago, she had a magical encounter with Tatiana Gotovchenko, a hand-knit finger puppet artist who were selling her work at a market. Since then, Miho has been selling Tatiana's work in Japan, which are playfully detailed and incredibly diverse. This book shows Tatiana's work as well as instructions of several of her puppets Miho recreated in crochet.
Moon and Turtle
Kiyomi and Sachiko Burgin
Published in 2021 by Pompom Press
98 pages. £21.50 UK
ISBN: 978-1-9160295-6-9
Kiyomi and Sachiko are Canadian knitwear designers who have a Japanese roots on the mother's side. At amirisu we have been a big fan of their work, having collaborated on many occasions, and are so excited about this book. In addition to the nine well thought-after, contemporary knitwear that they designed, the stories about themselves and being twins were fun to read!