Weekend Review: The Point of the Needle

 

The Point of the Needle / Barbara Burman
London: Reaktion Books, c2023.
288 p.

I've meant to read this one for a while, but only just got around to it now. It is a look at "plain sewing", the kind of everyday sewing done by women over decades, and which is experiencing a bit of a resurgence now. 

I liked it, it did talk about all the things I love about sewing and see other sewists mention too. The sense of creativity, accomplishment, community, skill etc. And this book also investigates when sewing wasn't done by much choice, but as a necessity. 

It's focused on England, and she has a series of interviews with older women that pepper the book, as the different topics are raised. She also looks at more contemporary social sewing (well, things in the last decade anyhow). She does mention the Sewcialists blog which began in 2013 and shut down in 2025 I think -- but calls it American, when it was begun and maintained by a Canadian (small annoyance for me). 

I liked it but felt that there was nothing new here -- that could be because I have read many similar books in the past, maybe someone newer to sewing would be more engaged. I also found that the tone was very academic and strangely detached. Like I couldn't tell if Burman has actually ever sewn herself - this book did not have the same enthusiasm behind it as the last one I read in this field. But maybe that's just her academic approach.

So overall, there were some interesting bits, and I appreciate that she was able to interview a bunch of women about their lives in sewing while they were still able to share, and then let us read those discussions. But a bit of a slow read for me unfortunately.