Crafts

In a life that spanned nearly a century and witnessed some of the most momentous events in American history, Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley was born a slave. A gifted seamstress, she earned her freedom by the skill of her needle, and won the friendship of First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln by her devotion.--Google Books

Interveaves the story of Maria, a seamstress in the royal household of Buckingham Palace, and Caroline Meadows who discovers a beautiful quilt in her mother's attic.

Poor seamstress Sira Quiroga forges a new identity during the Spanish Civil War and rises to the most sought-after couture designer in North Africa, where she is enlisted to pass coded information to the British Secret Service. Available in Spanish as "El Tiempo entre Costuras".

Caroline Shelby left Oysterville, Washington ten years ago to launch a career in the fashion world of Manhattan. Scandal and tragedy have forced her back, with Addie and Flick, the two orphans she is legal guardian for. But Oysterville - and her family - has changed. Will Jensen, a decorated Navy SEAL wounded overseas, has also returned. His wife Sierra, Caroline's best friend, is also reinventing herself as her modeling jobs dry up. At the sewing shop Caroline joins the Oysterville Sewing Circle, a sewing and support group. When an unexpected challenge tests her, Caroline decides to stand and fight for everything - and everyone - she loves." --Adapted from jacket.

This line from Tracy Chevalier's new A Single Thread perfectly sums up a story about how a needle and the right stitch can change the course of a life. A Single Thread focuses on 38-year-old Violet Speedwell, who's piecing together a life for herself after her fiancé and her beloved brother both died in World War I.--NPR review

In 1863, a young Black woman who embroiders intricate maps on repurposed cloth to help enslaved men flee and join the Union Army crosses paths with a Jewish seamstress who helps her discover that even the most delicate threads have the capacity to save.