Piece by Piece: A New Book by Lauren MacDonald
We’re always thrilled when a new book lands in our hands. Piece by Piece, the joyful, generous new title by Lauren MacDonald, is a love letter to patchwork, reuse, and the quiet satisfaction of making something beautiful from what you already have.
MacDonald is no stranger to textiles. Based in London, she’s the force behind Working Cloth, a design practice devoted to helping people reconnect with the fabric of their lives - literally. Over the past 15 years, she’s made quilts, clothes, books, and friends (her words), always with an eye on the hidden labour behind textile traditions and a curiosity about how old techniques meet modern life. Her first book, In Pursuit of Color (Atelier Éditions, 2023), charted the murky, marvellous histories of natural dyes - from fungi to fossil fuels, deep-fried mollusks to industrial espionage.
Janet Quilt, Page 152 of Piece by Piece, Lauren McDonald. Photo Credit: CharlieMcKay.
With Piece by Piece, MacDonald shifts from the global to the deeply personal. Subtitled 20 Modern Patchwork and Quilting Projects to Make from Pre-Loved Materials, this is not your grandmother’s quilting book - although she’d probably find something to love in it too. It’s a playful, open-handed guide to stitching with meaning, full of practical tutorials and colourful encouragement. Projects range from party hats and teddy bears to jackets, bolsters, and quilts, all organised in a gentle skill-building sequence. The only rule? Start where you are, and use what you have.
Toadstool Jacket, Page 107 of Piece by Piece, Lauren MacDonald. Photo: Charlie McKay
What makes this book sing is MacDonald’s voice: friendly, and unafraid to say, “Cut up that old pillowcase - go on!” There’s an honesty to her aesthetic that celebrates imperfection and embraces frugality without sacrificing joy. In her hands, patchwork becomes a way of seeing: a practice of noticing, repurposing, and putting things together - textiles, stories, moments - in a new configuration.
Extract from Piece by Piece, Lauren MacDonald
A modern homage to the centuries-old tradition of using what’s on hand, Piece by Piece arrives at a moment when we’re all being asked to reconsider our relationship to waste and value. This book reminds us that scraps are not just leftovers, they’re beginnings. And that making something new from what you already have is both a radical and joyful act.
As part of our 5 Minutes with a Friend series, we caught up with Lauren about her love of textiles:
Lauren, What is your first memory of a textile?
It’s hard to pinpoint my first memory of a textile. Many members of my extended family are talented makers and my childhood was filled with handmade things. My mother is an artist and made an enormous portrait of her mother using sewing pins on a big piece of canvas. She used the pins to stipple (like a dot drawing), adding more in darker areas and leaving the canvas plain in areas that were light. She did this from a fold-up camping chair while she watched my childhood soccer games. My Godmother and Aunt, Michelle, made me a quilt and I remember snuggling up in and it feeling very special that it was made just for me. One of my grandmothers would make each of us a new set of pyjamas and a matching doll every Christmas, she also made me amazing dresses. I think my own love of fabrics and sewing was passed on through them.
Ellen Crib Quilt, from Page 77 of Piece by Piece. Photo: Charlie McKay
Can you put into words what you love about textiles?
I first fell in love with the confidence that sewing gave me as a teenager. I realised that I could make the things that I wanted, and something clicked in my brain. I was hooked. From there its gotten deeper: I love the hidden histories and worlds in textiles. From the grandiose, like intricately woven tapestries hung in palaces, to the mundane: a forgotten glove, a favourite teeshirt worn soft and sheer through use, a mended sock. I like thinking about how and who made these things, and how/who/why they were worn.
Where is your most inspiring space / place to create?
I’m a big proponent of just showing up and getting started, rather than waiting for inspiration to strike. I get a lot of ideas while I’m making: so getting started playing around with a technique, trying out a new quilt block etc, gets the wheels turning. I also love going to exhibitions and rummaging through vintage craft books and art books for ideas.
What has inspired you recently?
Recently, I’ve been thinking about Dorothea Tanning, an American artist who worked as a painter, illustrator, printmaker, sculptor and set and costume designer. It’s not so much her work itself that I find inspiring (although I love it), but her approach to living creatively and integrating her practice through out her century long life.
Dorothea Tanning, Sedona, Arizona, USA, 1946 by © Lee Miller.
What is your most cherished textile, and why?
It’s a wishy-washy answer, but the truth is that I can’t pick just one. That’s the thing about textiles—they’re everywhere. And I’m quite sentimental and drawn to a lot of them. A few years ago I made myself a black wool trench coat that makes my shoulders feel powerful whenever I put it on. It’s an instant ego boost. There’s a small patchwork cloth that a friend who lives far away made and sent me in the post, I cried when I opened it. My early quilts feel important to me, because there is so much learning left to be done in them, and because of the places that process has ended up taking me. They feel like the promise of something.
Rose Dress, Page 184 of Piece by Piece by Lauren MacDonald. Photo: Charlie McKay
Where did you learn your craft?
I’m still learning! It’s one of the most beautiful things about working with textiles; there is a near infinite well of knowledge and skill, and so many disciplines within a single discipline. I’m both formally trained and self taught. I’m an inherently nosy person, so if I see something that I think looks like fun I want to try it. It plays out in big ways and small, I’m currently doing research into historical fabric manipulation techniques, which will hopefully be a bigger part of my design practice, and I knit my first sock last winter. It was a small achievement and I’m disproportionately proud of it.
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Further Information:
Piece by Piece is available now, published by Hardie Grant Books.
Join Lauren on her book tour throughout May and June. Find out more here.
Piece by Piece, Lauren MacDonald
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Image Credits:
Lead Image: Piece by Piece book cover (detail), courtesy of @talismanonpender
All other images as credited in photo captions.