Once again I'm struggling a bit to come up with things - everything is work work work at the moment! But here's a few suggestions:
Rotary fabric cutter - this will make it easier to cut slippery fabrics and is recommended for making underwear because of that. This Fiskars titanium blade one should be good.
This one's pricey, but the internet declares it to be absolutely the best book on bra-making available. It also has a section on making sports bras which would be very useful in the future. It covers pattern and fabric selection, and extensive info on getting a good fit too - Beverly Johnson's Bra Makers Manual
If that one's a bit beyond the budget (likely - it's beyond mine, alas), then this alternative would at least be useful for getting me started on this - it's received quite good reviews on Amazon although it's not supposed to be either as clear or as comprehensive as the Johnson book. Demystifying Bra Fitting and Construction - note that if you’re thinking Kindle edition (which would be fine) for this or any of the other books on this list, you’ll need to get an Amazon gift card for the appropriate amount and then tell me which book you intend it for - unfortunately, even after almost a decade of Kindle’s existence, Amazon still hasn’t sorted a way to buy an ebook for someone else!
Repeating from previous lists - these two have been on here for 2 years now - still want to read them, still can't get them in any of my libraries!
- Catherine Malabou Changing Difference: The Feminine and the Question of Philosophy.
- Tim Ingold's Redrawing Anthropology: Materials, Movements, Lines or Lines: A Brief History
There are a number of volumes in the Whitechapel Gallery's Documents of Contemporary Art series which would be useful to have at home: The Everyday, Sound, or The Studio. Or, frankly, any of them that you feel looks interesting would be a worthy read - very tempted by the ones on Failure, The Object, Materiality, Situation, Time, etc. etc. (I haven’t managed to check these links work properly yet so if they don’t - or if any of these don’t, just let me know I need to check - will try to do so soon, but internet can be a little dodgy in Bath!).
Austin Kleon’s new book, Keep Going, is being released on 2 April, so it probably wouldn’t arrive in time (although sometimes pre-orders do arrive a day or two before the release date), but would be very welcome and unlike most of the books I want, is very affordable. Hard copy preferred for this one. If you like the idea of this book but really don’t want it to be late, his previous book Show Your Work! would be well received (I did have Steal Like an Artist here too but just found it in the library and while it’s very good, it’s really for artists who are just starting out - nice to find I’ve gone beyond needing that!)
Running out of inspiration, but I can always do with more cute socks to keep me cheery on my travels. Seasalt socks are my favourite, so either the boxed set of ‘postcard socks’ (or any of the boxed sets) or any of these individual pairs:
Grey fish ‘sailor socks’, Crabs & stripes ‘arty socks’, ‘Cornish Stripe’ socks in either the ‘Cornish Lake’ (teal) or ‘Cornish Rudder’ (red) colourways. But basically any of the women’s socks would be welcome - these are just a few that I don’t already own. They’ve a 3 for 2 special on the individual pairs at the moment and some of the boxes are reduced too.
A Seasalt gift card would be useful too - while they don’t have a London store (and so socks would need to be posted), they do have a Bath one, so they’re quite easy for me to get to. I also keep hoping (and sending feedback) that they’ll start doing 1.5 or 2 metre lengths of their gorgeous fabrics rather than the 1m/3m pre-cut lengths they do at the moment, so that wouldn’t go astray. Amazon of course would be useful and could go towards one of the more expensive books on the list.
I’ll keep thinking about what else might go on here and will let you know if it gets updated!
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