A booklist to inspire and inform your next do-it-yourself project, including mending, big and small home repairs, traveling by (and maintaining) a bicycle, and sustainable practices no matter your lifestyle.
Interested in other DIY pursuits? Take a look at our Gardening, Cookbooks & Food Writing, and Birding booklists! You can also click here to print this booklist.
This booklist is made possible in part by a Beyond the Page grant for the humanities.
Mending
Inspired by the slow fashion movement that's taking the sewing world by storm, Erin Lewis-Fitzgerald has created a comprehensive guide to mending your own clothes in a way that combines creativity and sustainability.
Boro is the Japanese straight stitch used to repair and reinforce fabrics. In this book, Sashiko expert Harumi Horiuchi shares her ideas for using boro to patch holes and tears, reinforce worn areas, and add fresh details to garments.
This handbook is for beginners but also offers more advanced techniques to those with some experience in mending. Along the way, the authors share heartfelt stories about the strength that comes from mending not only the objects we are repairing, but ourselves as well.
Written by knitwear designer Hikaru Noguchi, this helpful guide walks readers through 12 darning techniques and covers the mending of sweaters, shirts, denim, and more.
Sometimes less is more. That's true in textile art too, and this much-needed guide brings a meaningful, sustainable approach to stitchery. Try simple techniques based on traditional practice, reusing and reinventing materials, and limited equipment.
From the Bayeux Tapestry to Hmong story cloths, from the AIDS quilt to pink pussyhats--through the ages, people have used sewing to make their voices heard, even in desperate circumstances. Hunter chronicles how identity, protest, memory, power, and politics can be told through the stories of needlework.
Home Repair
Renting a home can be complex, and you deserve to feel empowered to take matters into your own hands. Tackle improvement projects including clogged sinks, safely hanging things on walls, and patching drywall holes.
This handy guide covers the essential household repairs we all need to know, from easy fixes like tightening loose door hinges to more involved projects such as bleeding your brakes.
A modern and energetically designed encyclopedia of DIY with everything you need to know to roll up your sleeves and cook it, build it, sew it, clean it, or repair it yourself.
Melissa Dilkes Pateras offers her accessible, often tongue-in-cheek tips & thoughts on home projects–from caulking to why color-coded closets are a spiritual experience.
The essential guide to repairing and recycling all the little things you're told can't be fixed. Learn how to salvage a sweater that shrank in the wash, fix a broken umbrella spoke, and more to help you reduce, reuse, recycle, and save money.
Bicycles & Cycling
From basic repairs like how to fix a flat tire to advanced overhauls of drivetrains and brakes, Lennard Zinn's illustrated guide makes bicycle repair and maintenance easy for everyone.
Learn to purchase, maintain, and ride a bike for recreation, commuting, competition, travel, and beyond! Weiss takes the mystery and intimidation out of cycling, inspiring even reluctant cyclists to get out and ride.
A practical manual every cyclist should have. Learn what to look for in a new or used bike, when to pay a little more for components, and where you can economize creatively.
A bicycle can transport you to an entirely different mindset where you can embrace the unexpected and live in the moment. This book explores how people are drawn to riding for many of the same reasons–to test, find, and express themselves.
Recycling & Reuse
Journalist Adam Minter takes us on an unexpected adventure into the often-hidden, multibillion-dollar industry of reuse by exploring thrift stores in the American Southwest, vintage shops in Tokyo, flea markets in Southeast Asia, and more.
We're all trapped in a convenience-based and wasteful cycle, but Tara McKenna is here to help guide you through a year of reducing waste. Topics include decluttering and developing a capsule wardrobe to streamlining your living space and significantly reducing single-use plastics.
The US only recycles roughly 34% of its waste. When done well, recycling benefits communities and the environment, but what happens to our recycled items? Why are the rules of what is recyclable so confusing? Beth Porter clears up that confusion with her informative book.
A guide to transforming found and cherished textiles. Textile artist Mandy Pattullo shows how to source, refashion and repurpose vintage textiles to create beautiful collages and other unique textile objects.