Maddie Ballard (she/her) is a writer of mixed Chinese heritage from Aotearoa New Zealand. Her debut essay collection was published as Bound: A Memoir of Making and Remaking (The Emma Press, 2024) in the UK and Patchwork: A Sewist’s Diary (Tin House, 2025) in the US. She co-edits Starling, a literary journal for emerging New Zealand writers, and writes a sporadic Substack. She currently lives in Melbourne.

In Patchwork, a charming and evocative sewist's diary, Maddie Ballard explores the making (and sometimes remaking) of seventeen specific garments over a period of great change in her life—from a jacket lined with the embroidered Cantonese names of her female ancestors, to a dressing gown made as a gift for a dear friend, to an eco-friendly, zero-waste dress.

As the wardrobe grows, so too does Maddie. From her first off-kilter dresses and coats to perfectly fitting pants, readers follow along as she learns to navigate the world around her and how she sees herself in it—both as she is and as she hopes to be. Stitch by stitch, word by word, Maddie drafts her own patterns for ways of living. Throughout the diary, delightful illustrations bring Maddie’s creations to life on the page.

With a focus on the practical comfort and pleasure provided by sewing in a time of personal renewal, Patchwork: A Sewist’s Diary is a warmhearted celebration of the value of craft in the modern age.

This episode of Sew Organised Style podcast for SewOver50 was both video and audio produced by Maria Theoharous in her sewing room.

With permission of Maddie.

Sound by Kaneef on Youtube

Many thanks for the ongoing monthly support of the podcast’s Patreon contributors. Their paid Patreon membership enables me to create these video and audio podcasts for free.

You can find Sew Organised Style podcast, spelt with an s not a z, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts

And yes. If you live in Australia and decide to purchase your own Mimiquin custpm dressform, I’ll be your body scanner for Mimiquins UK.

Tag your makes using @sharesewover50 to be able to find your makes in chronological order on Instagram.

I look forward to joining you in your sewing room next time.

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