annwood – ann wood handmade

All posts by annwood

wool on my worktable and a sneak peek

September 12, 2025

by annwood

Stitching vessels is a pretty satisfying and addictive process. Adding wool to the mix takes it next level. It surprised me. The form is so perfect. The edge trim is a pretty heavy cotton that gives even more structure. I used scrap from menswear mostly, pants, suit jackets etc.

There is also a lot of straight stitching through everything after it was assembled. I like the way it looks and it helps compress the layers of wool together.

I like it so much I took way too many pictures and I’m pulling out the big box of wool scraps to make more. I think this will be a wool stitched vessel winter for me. #thriftysewingchallenge

I’m also making little owls- this guy is made from a suit jacket and thrifted curtains. He’s the smallest from the little owls sewing pattern. This little fellow took about 2 hours to make. I did leave off one pattern piece because I liked his white breast showing. Pro tip – I put three nickels in his bottom when stuffing to help him stand on his own.

I’ll use the same wool for a larger owl. I love an owl with a bold head to toe look like this houndstooth guy (dastardly owl sewing pattern).

sneak peek

Check out some new things coming to the shop soon. Including the 2026 Calendar! So excited to offer it in a more timely fashion this year. I’m also hoping to have enough ( but not too many – it’s expensive to produce) It will be available for pre-order soon and they will start shipping before November.

There are also some new cards and little items including journal stickers. I’ll let you know when it’s all listed in the shop.

And I’m looking forward to little bramble pots from the kiln soon. More about those and last week’s Squam Art Retreat in the next post.

Happy National Sewing Month!

ann

PS – thanks for all the great book recommendations and I am loving Lonesome Dove – it’ really takes off around page 100.

PPS – Checkout Meg’s (Sew Liberated) beautiful fleet of paper mache ships

fall thrifted fabric sewing challenge

August 22, 2025

by annwood

comments 64

basket of laundered thrifted clothing for sewing - mostly menswear

I’ve been picking things up all summer from the local thrifts and yard sales. It all gets laundered. All of it- suit jackets too – but I don’t put them in the dryer.

When I hit a thrift store hunting for fabric my first stop is always the xl men’s long-sleeve shirt section. Men’s wear in general is rich with possibilities.

Feel is important. This pin stripe shirt is worn to perfection but not falling apart. The cotton is excellent. There are a few stains and little holes but that’s easy to work around. My first project was an elephant rag doll. The sleeves were more than enough for one doll.

I used a bit of another striped shirt for her cap and a mr. socks’s doll.

I love this wool but I’m not seasonally prepared to work with wool just yet. I am planning on owls and owl ornaments and something for the tiny rag doll. And definitely some vessels. Stay tuned – I’ll be posting more finished projects through autumn.

Are you up for a thrifty challenge this fall? It’s super simple. Just take a photo of what you made, and let us know (or even take a photo of) what you made it from. And you don’t have to buy anything – you’ve probably got stuff lying around. Tag your post with #thriftysewingchallenge – you can also tag @annwood in your caption on instagram.

Where to post? Instagram, facebook and in the stitch club community.

fall approaches

I’ve got ambitious late summer/early fall reading plans. First up, Lonesome Dove. It’s giant.

try this

Edward Gorey House is hosting an all ages envelope decorating contest! They’ve just announced the theme – Evil Garden.

So good. Find all the details here.

Are you a thrift store fabric hunter? Are you reading anything great? Let us know in the comments and happy remainder of summer!

ann

the finished stitched scroll

August 8, 2025

by annwood

The sides of the linen strip are unfinished and frayed, when it’s rolled up it has a plush, carpet feel I like.

And the size of this scroll project was magic for me. It was such a low pressure, pleasure to stitch. The small, consistent effort kept my hands moving and ideas flowing. You know the rule:

“A middle aged craft lady in motion tends to stay in motion and a middle aged craft lady at rest tends to stay at rest.”

Don’t see a video above? Click here to view.

I approached it improvisationally and the imagery evolved in a fabley direction I like. It could have gone on forever but I felt like the ideal size was reached at about 4 feet.

Another has already begun, this time experimenting with staying abstract. I usually fail at this (some image creeps in…) but that does not matter, the shift in thinking is valuable, it wakes up different parts of my imagination. This would be a great kid/beginner project to start a little stitcher.

The scroll was inspired by Artist Aitor Saraiba. If you don’t already know of his work please go have a look- you will be enchanted.

Check out some scrolls from Stitch Club members – so energetic, personal and imaginative. Excellent work.

Barbara

Heather

Roberta

Laine

the august special

All owl patterns are 25% off through August!

whats next

Get ready for the fall thrifted fabric challenge. It’s less about what you make and more about what you make it with. Stay tuned for details in the next newsletter. For now have your eyes open for thrifted clothing (menswear is rich territory) you could transform into owls or crows or elephants or vessels etc.

Did you make a summer scroll? Are you up for a thrifty challenge? Let us know in the comments.

mini wheelbarrow tutorial and template

July 18, 2025

by annwood

miniature red wheelbarrow made from cardboard with a crepe paper mini chicken

You think it’s easy being a tiny doll? You need all sorts of equipment. Ideas for a mini wheelbarrow have been rolling around forever.

What made it difficult is committing to no drilling and the question of the wheel. I wanted this tutorial to use stuff you mostly already have around or that’s easily gettable at the grocery store. No specialty items or power tools…

I tried buttons, wire, string and all sorts of attachments and nothing worked. Hours and hours of failure. The answer came to me in a flash while walking to the post office and not thinking about tiny wheelbarrows at all. A gift from my subconscious (I love it when that happens):

ditalini

Pasta wheel hubs.

It worked perfectly. And it also led me to a not pasta alternative in case you don’t have any ditalini or are spiritually opposed to using a macaroni product in your work.

The answer for the wheel is cardboard. Laminating cardboard together makes a perfect antiquey, hand-tooled feeling wheel.

I guarantee there is someone in your life who needs a tiny cardboard wheelbarrow, they just don’t know it yet.

*This post contains affiliate links, meaning I get a small commission if you purchase through the link. Links are highlighted and marked with an asterisk.

download the template here

tools and materials

**Please read through all the instructions before beginning**

the pdf template
wood coffee stirrers (mine are 5.5 by about 1/4 inch and have rounded ends)
wood toothpicks
plain light weight cardboard (no printing on it- not glossy)
black or brown paper (or the secret ingredient)
xacto knife
clothespins – for clamping
bamboo skewer (thinner kind)
large embroidery needle
glue (I’m using *clear tacky craft glue)
gluestick (any glue stick is fine but I’m loving *this rice paste stick)
fine sand paper (or emery board)
craft paints and brushes
colored pencils
black markers- fine and basic sharpy

1. Cut out the templates (cut the dotted black lines) and trace onto the chipboard. Trace one wheelbarrow, 4 wheels and 2 inner wheels. Mark the score lines (the gray lines on the templates) on the wheelbarrow. Score the lines with the back of your xacto knife. Poke a hole in the wheel template and mark the center of each wheel piece.

: 2

: 3

2. Cut out your pieces.

3. Use your large embroidery needle to poke a hole in each wheel and then use the skewer to enlarge the holes.

: 4

: 5

4. Apply glue to one of the wheels – you want good coverage around the edge especially. Glue all the wheels together. Press firmly and laminate them together.

5. Push the skewer through to make sure the hole is clear and lined up. Remove the skewer and let the wheel dry.

: 6

: 7

6. Bend the back, sides and tabs at the score lines. Fold the tabs in and apply glue to the tabs.

7. Glue the tabs to the inside of the sides and clamp with clothespins.

: 8

: 9

8. Cut 4 stirrers to 4.5 inches. Save the remaining ends for later.

9. Place the leg template on a stirrer and cut 2. We want the angled end to be accurate.

what’s on my work table: birds, rag dolls and other UFO’s

June 20, 2025

by annwood

What’s your UFO situation? I’ve got tons of them (unfinished objects). They are all resting quietly in neatly labeled boxes in a closet waiting for their shot. My plan is to work my way through everything this summer. So ambitious. And working my way through does not necessarily mean finishing. Abandoning/letting go is also a valid choice. Finished or permanently let go they will be removed from the shadowy edges of my mind. Forever.

It’s a good thing I’m in a very sewy mood because the pile of stuff to finish is huge.

Let’s start with birds. I’ve got lots of almost done birds plus a little collection I’m making for Fortuny (they’ll be available there this fall).

find the songbird sewing pattern here

Pro Tip: I’ve been coloring the beaks with sharpy. The wood absorbs the color really well and it has a little translucency. After it’s dry just a little polishing with a soft cloth gives it a beautiful waxy sheen – super realistic.

And the summer scroll continues. I love this project and I’m probably going to end up with 2 or three scrolls by labor day. Committing to a thing but not putting a lot of pressure on it is a creativity sweet spot. The mini size helps too. Stitch club members are making lots of super imaginative scrolls – I’ll share some on the blog soon.

The latest entry in my scroll commemorates the soggiest spring ever. The garden is so sad. I added fertilizer a couple days ago – organic fish fertilizer. It’s the worst thing I ever smelled in my life. By far. It’s as if somebody mixed up all the bad smells in a bucket and then left it out in the sun for a week. I hope it helps the pale pole beans and stunted peppers and tomatoes.

More UFO’s – rag dolls. Mostly circus folk and captains. These are super fun to finish – they just need little details. And as I work on patterns this summer I’ll be producing lots more (the elephant pattern is already available and all the other animal patterns and the captain are in progress now). As dolls get finished I’ll add them to the shop.

The first sample sale will be ~~next week ( I’m thinking Thursday~~ and I’ll update this post with the time and date when I know for sure). And I’ll send an email when the shop is stocked

UPDATE – the doll sale will be noonish- eastern time on Monday 6/30

Do you have some UFO’s in your closet? Is your garden soggy? Let us know in the comments.

Onward!

ann

PS – I got the wordle in 2 today!

the finished 2025 stitch book and 5 things I did at my job this week

May 30, 2025

by annwood

I’ve had this job for almost 20 years. It’s changed a lot but there’s a constant element of it feeling like an amorphous squishy blob. The worky stuff is so intertwined with my life stuff it gets blurry. That has its advantages but it can also result in wheel spinning and not having clear priorities.

I think it’s valuable to get super focused about what “working” really means. So here are some things I accomplished this week that are my actual job.

1- worked on the 2026 calendar

Last year’s calendar was a big hit (thank you!) But I wished I had released it earlier. I’m working on 2026 now. Still messing around with images – it takes forever to choose. If you’ve got a favorite painting, leave a comment with the date and your suggested month!

Don’t see the video above? click here.

2- finished the stitch book – there’s a video and everything

I love putting the book together. The process feels magic and the book feels substantive in my hands. I I’m already percolating ideas for next years book…

3- started the summer scroll project in stitch club

After a very brief post stitch book breather we have started a summer long mini project in stitch club – scrolls. The idea is simple, just cut a strip of fabric (I used an old linen table cloth) and stitch a little every day. The size is great for summer- it could fit in your pocket.

The stick (or spool etc.) is optional. We plan to stitch until labor day. If I keep going at my current pace my scroll is going to be huge. If you join in, tag your work with #summerscroll on Instagram!

4- worked on patterns

There are so many in the works and patterns will be the main focus of this summer. Next up will be the soldier (at last) and circus cat. Stay tuned.

5- blog post and newsletter

I love newsletter day! which almost always coincides with blog post day. And the moment I hit send I start working on the next.

bonus – a few things things that aren’t part of my official job description but I act like they are:

Staring at seedlings and willing them to grow faster.

Monitoring bunny and squirrel activity and generally messing around in my tiny garden. Please make the rain stop- it’s too much.

Re- arranging things…

Recreational ironing- I wish it was but it’s not.

Internet based research (pinterest). It a little bit is… I organize newsletter ideas there but it mostly is not. I start with the best of intentions and end up looking at gardens and country houses and quilts.

The NY Times puzzles. We’ve talked about this before. It really is like they are my job. I might need an intervention.

What do you accidentally spent big chunks of time on? Have you assembled your stitch book? Is there a stitched scroll in your future? Let us know in the comments.

shingles and a working door : cardboard doll house progress

May 9, 2025

by annwood

cardboard doll house exterior with chimney and green door

Miss thistles house has a roof and a door! It opens and closes and everything. The secret ingredients? Cardboard and colored pencils.

To make the door I started by tracing the door opening onto corrugated cardboard and cutting it out. It pretty much fits. It fits enough… The edges were covered in masking tape and then I traced the door onto chipboard – thin cardboard – twice.

This post contains an affiliate link – meaning I get a small commission if you purchase through the link – marked with an *asterisk.

Using a scrap of cardboard as a spreader I applied a thin layer of *my favorite craft glue all over and sandwiched the corrugated door shape between the two chipboard layers. A stack of books on top (with wax paper between in case of glue seepage) kept everything compressed until it dried completely.

The base coat of paint is army green. Next it was dry brushed with a darker emerald green. The board lines were drawn on with a fine tip marker.

What really makes the paint job sing is the next step – bright green colored pencil. It creates a soft, chalky, finish like weathered milk paint. I highlighted the boards here and there. If you’re imagining a red door, try something like -medium red for the base, burgundy for the dry brush and an orangey red colored pencil for the highlight. You get the idea.

The tiny hinges are also cardboard, 2 little pieces of chipboard ½” X ¾ inch. Folded in half (the longer side).

Open and add glue on the inside at the crease.

Fold back together- pinching the crease and open the sides like wings.

A sharpie worked perfectly for coloring without making the the cardboard soggy.

Brown colored pencils add a rusty highlight. It’s surprisingly convincing.

I glued one side to the door and waited like an adult for that to thoroughly dry and then glued the other side to the house. A couple little twigs made sweet, rustic door knobs.

I had tried a bunch of more complicated solutions that didn’t feel quite right for the house. I love it when the answer is cardboard. You could get fancy with the shape and these would also be great for tiny cabinets.

and we gotta talk about the fully shingled roof!

I had begun adding cardboard shingles with wood glue but switched to hot glue for efficiency. The shingles are made from thin corrugated cardboard (it was a shoebox). The size varies and the shapes are a little irregular – they are mostly around 1 X 1.5 inches.

The shingles got a light coat of reddish brown. The secret to painting cardboard is being quick, light and dry about it. Work in layers.

A lighter gold color highlights individual shingles here and there. And finally a dry brush of raw umber for texture. I do use water to thin the raw umber but the touch is super light.

The chimney is just about finished too – I want to add some details to the stones- the full tutorial for making egg carton masonry is here.

Shutters, maybe window boxes and definitely some folk arty details are next. Stay tuned.

Does your tiny doll have a house? Are there mini cardboard hinges in your future?

PS – Happy mother’s day! I’ll leave you with a sweet photo of my Mom on her wedding day (I’m pretty sure the little girl is another awesome mom, my Aunt Annie Biggles). Such a great picture.

day 99! the hundred day stitch book challenge ends tomorrow

April 25, 2025

by annwood

stitch collage with still life- pear and vase

The 4th! annual challenge is coming to a close.

Bask in the glory for a moment. And marvel at the magic power of a small daily practice. Congratulate yourself for showing up. And then consider, what do you do with your new insight and the strength of your habit? How can you carry it forward and continue to grow?

don’t lose the connection

I so get being ready for a break after this 100 day experiment. I always feel a mix of happiness and sadness when it’s over. I also see an opportunity to harness the momentum.

The bridge to your imagination, your most creative self, is built with intention and habits. A creative habit, even a very small one, makes space for connections. It creates favorable conditions for ideas-to show up. Ideas are funny like that, so particular.

100 days is a solid chunk of time and definitely enough to truly integrate something into your life, to create a habit. I think there are a lot of ways to carry that forward and continue to strengthen the creative muscle and connection to your imagination, to keep crossing that bridge.

“Creativity is not a talent. It is not a talent, it is a way of operating” John Cleese

Maybe commit to 10 or 15 minutes of writing, or doodling or collage or daydreaming. What’s key is that you continue to have a regular (daily) appointment with your imagination. It’s also a good time to try expanding your practice – if the short practice produced benefits start to play with bigger chunks of time.

stephanie – stitch book

: rhonda – stitchbook page

: mary – stitchbook pages

barbara- stitch book pages

Pam -stitch book page

The pages above are work by stitch club members and you can also find lots of pages on instagram – #stitchbookchallenge2025

what happens next

Assemble your book! Find the tutorial here.

I’ll show you the beginning of the process here – none of what follows will make any sense to you unless you’ve reviewed the assembly pages linked above. I started putting my book together yesterday and I’m assembling a little differently from the tutorial- leaving the edges raw.

It’s easy to do but hand stitching all those pages takes forever. If you’d like raw edges just follow the book assembly instructions and at step 11 in the slot section you place the wrong sides of the pages together. And again for the tab section in step 9 you place the wrong sides together. All other instructions are the same.

First you need to number the pages in the order you want them to appear in the book (pro tip- if you use tape don’t iron over it…). 1 is the front cover and 20 is the back cover.

Then arrange the numbered pages according to the chart.

I’m excited about my book – putting it together, choosing the page order, all of that. And even more thrilling? Knowing that thousands of stitch books exist in the world—each one an expression of a completely unique imagination. I so appreciate the energy and commitment people put into their books.

Are you excited to assemble your book? What did you learn in your daily practice? Let us know in the comments!

Congratulations and onward!

ann

8 simple joys this spring and the stitch book homestretch

April 11, 2025

by annwood

a roof over miss thistle’s head

Big news in tiny world: Miss Thistle’s house finally has a roof! Fully shingled (with cardboard, of course). I’ll be sharing all the DIY details soon—it was super easy. Still to come: a few charming touches on the exterior and shutters (I think) stay tuned for a dedicated cardboard doll house post.

aroma- a layered approach

I’m all about a good smell, nothing too loud or perfumy, I describe it as earthy and fresh. After years of experimenting I think I’ve perfected it:

A bunch of fresh eucalyptus – I get one every Friday.
This handmade soap by Saipua. All the scents are glorious but my top pick is clay and dill.
Santa Maria Novella Potpourri – I’ve got little dishes of it all over the place. I’ve had the same bag for over a year and it’s still going strong. It’s pricy but good.
Lavender cleaner. So simple. There are lots of ways to make it, I used equal parts vinegar and distilled water and about 20 drops of lavender oil.

bramble

It gets me through the winter. I get an outsized amount of joy from wandering around outside looking for exquisite little sticks and dead plants to bring home and put in my tiny vases.

happy plants

You know I love a houseplant. My collection has officially tipped into “plant lady” territory—and I’m fine with that.

new story bottles

New little delft /early american inspired rustic bottles. After a few more get fired I’ll put them in the shop. There is a giant artwork shop update in the works.

daffodils

They almost don’t look real! A magical occurrence every time. It’s still so wintery when they make their magnificent appearance.

NYT puzzles

Now I’m also a puzzle lady. My goodness. But I can’t help it – I love wordle, connections and strands. Obsessed. A huge amount of my discretionary time budget is spent on them. Who knows – maybe it’s helping my rapidly aging brain.

the stitch book home stretch

Friends! We are less than 20 days away from the finish line!! I will be a little bit happy and a little bit sad when this is finished. I’m excited about putting the book together and overflowing with ideas for my last pages. The process builds idea generating momentum and I don’t have enough pages left for all the things I’d like to try. It’s exactly the problem I hoped to have. The official end is Saturday 4/26.

What’s bringing you joy this spring? Are you a puzzle lady? A plant lady?!? Let us know in the comments and a very happy spring to you!

celebrate 19 years! of ann wood handmade

March 21, 2025

by annwood

For fun, I asked AI to write a blog post about the 19th anniversary of Ann Wood Handmade. It wasn’t bad. Pretty serviceable, actually. But it used the word journey a lot, had a certain flowery tone, and didn’t sound like me.

One thing I did appreciate, though, was how it zeroed in on community as an essential element—you all showing up here. Some of you for the whole 19 years.

Here’s what ChatGPT had to say:

“But what has made Ann Wood Handmade truly special is the incredible community that has grown around it. Over the years, makers from all over the world have connected here, sharing a love for handcraft, resourcefulness, and storytelling through materials. Whether you’ve been visiting for years or just recently discovered this creative space, your enthusiasm and support mean everything.”

And it does. I love knowing there are paper-mâché ships, earnest little birds, and dastardly owls scattered across the world. That they’ve mattered to other people too.

paper mache ship pattern

In an increasingly AI-driven world, the weird soup of human experience and imagination feels more magical than ever. It can’t be reproduced. I had to have a father obsessed with sailing, tall ships, and books, which led me to an early love of shipwrecks in literature. That had to collide with an image of a crystal chandelier shaped like a Spanish galleon, plus a lifelong devotion to paper-mâché (so accessible).

a wedding in prospect park

little bird pattern

mr. tibbles and mr. wickles

dastardly owl pattern

The little birds, and the owls, the general mood of it all? That doesn’t happen without a deeply poetic, Beatrix Potter-loving mom who took me to see this film at an apparently incredibly formative age. It doesn’t happen without mountains of scrap fabric and a sewing needle in my four-year-old hand.

It all layers together. And that mix—uniquely human, entirely unrepeatable—is what makes handmade things, and the people who love them, so special.

So happy anniversary to us! I’ll leave you with some customer/ reader projects that I love. And as always, thanks for showing up.

onward!

ann

Crow in progress by Gail

songbirds by Sue

song birds by Lynn

The collection above by Margaret includes her own modifications to the song bird pattern to create the larger robin.

A stitched vessel by Cookie – I love the button and pouf!

A magical ship by Teirney.

A sweet elephant by Lindsay.

mushroom by Steph

stitched eggs and chicks – new sewing diy

March 7, 2025

by annwood

Why make just one fabric egg when you can whip up a whole batch? These little stitched eggs are quick, easy, and extra cute in abundance. And they are perfect, cozy homes for little chicks.

You probably already have everything you need to get started. The free little chick pattern is available here.

A couple notes:

You can mix fabrics for multi color eggs. I’m demonstrating with one fabric for the exterior of the egg and another for the lining of the front opening pieces.

These can be sewn by hand or machine – if you’re machine sewing they only take about 15 minutes to make.

DOWNLOAD THE PATTERN

you will need

the template
cotton scraps – fabric for the egg and lining
a basic sewing kit
optional – pinking shears
chicks

: 1.

: 2.

1. Pin the egg back template to a single layer of fabric

2. Pin the egg top and bottom to doubled fabric – right sides together. One fabric is the same as the egg back and the other will be the lining fabric.

: 3.

: 4.

3. With the right sides of the fabric still facing, mark a 1/4 inch seam line on the bottom and top and sew across each pair.

4. Press the seams open

Support free patterns like chicks and eggs! It’s been a priority here for years to create high quality free patterns (there are tons) on an ad free site. There are not very many of those left… Help keep the awesome free projects flowing.

Click here to add your support.

5. Fold at the seam- wrong sides together – and press.

: 6.

: 7.

6. Place the egg bottom over the egg back – right sides of the egg fabric together and right side of the lining fabric facing you – pin.

7. Place the egg top – right sides of the egg fabric together and right side of the lining fabric facing you – pin.

: 9.

: 10.

8. Carefully mark a 1/4 inch seam allowance all around the edge.

9. Stitch the seam.

: 10.

: 11.

10. Trim with pinking shears or clip notches into the seam allowance.

11. Turn the egg right side out and run a chopstick or similar around the inside of the seam to push the curve all the way out.

The eggs are designed to be easy for little hands to hide a chick inside and get it back out – hours of fun. Beyond the seasonal significance you could create a memory or matching game.

So easy! I hope you make lots of chicks and eggs!

we’re officially at the halfway mark of the 2025 stitch book challenge!

March 7, 2025

by annwood

stitched collage- black goved hand on a white field with fancy stitched rings on each finger

Your habit is taking root. You’ve gained a deeper understanding of your creative process—how your mind works, where you get stuck, and what sparks your curiosity. You’re also discovering new intersections.

Intersections are connections—ideas.

One thing leads to another, if you let it…

learn about the stitch book project here

You have fifty days of work behind you. That daily commitment, however small, adds up to something surprisingly significant.

Or not. Maybe it feels like a hot mess. Maybe you still feel stuck, and subjected to a new daily dose of guilt that you missed a day (or most of the days…), or that your work isn’t what you hoped it would be.

That’s just information—feedback. Use it. Adjust. Experiment.

: stitch book page – katy baker

: stitch book page – coast and cloth

Katie Baker
coast and cloth

Some ways to shift things:

Be silly. I’m a huge fan of silly. Playfulness unlocks creativity.

Add constraints. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, limit yourself—use just one color, like blues, or stick to a single shape, like circles. Constraints can spark fresh ideas and help you see your materials in a new way.

Let go of the outcome. Just commit to 15 minutes of creative movement—hands and mind engaged. Let that be enough.

Keep going.