I have spent the last year on research for Sew Witchy. I’ve made liberal use of the interlibrary loan department of my local library to get a hold of various books on two main topics: sewing and magic. As much as I love research, though, there comes a time when you need to put butt in chair and write (or sew).
Below is an incomplete list of the books I’ve read over the last year. I left off the books on gardening, fashion and pattern-making that weren’t being used for research. They’re presented in no particular order, and mostly just as a demonstration of what is involved in writing a book.
- The Herbal Alchemist’s Handbook by Karen Harrison
- By Spellbook & Candle by Mélusine Draco
- The Point of the Needle by Dorothy Bromiley Phelan
- The Dress Detective by Ingrid Mida & Alexandra Kim
- Old World Witchcraft by Raven Grimassi
- The Book of English Magic by Phillip Carr-Gromm & Richard Heygate
- The Tradition of Household Spirits by Claude LeCouteaux
- Irish Witchcraft from an Irish Witch by Lora O’Brien
- The devil’s Cloth by Michel Pastoureau
- Trolldom by Johannes Björn Gardbäck
- Made from Scratch: Reclaiming the Pleasures of the American Hearth by Jean Zimmerman
- Clearing Spaces by Khi Armand
- Empire of Cotton by Sven Beckert
- The Subversive Stitch by Rozsika Parker
- A Grimoire for Modern Cunningfolk by Peter Paddon
- Nomadic Felts by Stephanie Bunn
- Printed Textiles by Linda Eaton
- The Good Witch’s Guide by Shawn Robbins & Charity Bedell
- A History of Witchcraft by Jeffrey B. Russell & Brooks Alexander
- The Hearth Witch’s Compendium by Anna Franklin
- Farmhouse Witchcraft by Penny Parker
- The Witch’s Cauldron by Laura Tempest Zakroff
- A Witch’s Guide to Faery Folk by Edain McCoy
- Grimoire of a Kitchen Witch by Rachel Patterson
- A Witch’s World of Magick by Melanie Marquis
- Hedgewitch by Silver Ravenwolf
- The Flame and the Cauldron by Orion Foxwood
- A Witch’s Halloween by Gerina Dunwich
- Earth Power by Scott Cunningham
- Cunning-folk: Popular Magic in English History by Owen davies
- Cunningfolk & Familiar Spirits: Shamanistic Visionary Traditions in Early Modern British Witchcraft and Magic by Emma Wilby
- The Cunningman’s Handbook by Jim Baker
- Green Witchcraft by Ann Moura
- Muslin by Sonia Ashmore
- Textiles: The Whole Story by Beverly Gordon
- Forgotten Ways for Modern Days by Rachelle Blondel
- Natural Color by Sasha Duerr
- Women’s Work by Elizabeth Wayland Barber
- Practical Sigil Magic by Frater U.D.
- A Witch’s Runes by Susan Sheppard
- Homemade Magic by Lon Milo DuQuette
- The Book of Forgotten Crafts by Paul Felix, Siân Ellis & Tom Quinn
- Witchy Crafts: 60 Enchanted Projects for the Creative Witch by Lexa Olick
A version of this post first appeared on September 28, 2017.