sketchbook 5/26 – 6/1
easy doll clothes patterns and a free mini straw hat diy
A tiny summer top! Who would have guessed she’d reveal even a hint of midriff. But there it is. Scandalous. You just never know about someone…
A new sewing pattern! And a free tutorial too!
Use your scraps to make adorable dresses and tops for your tiny ladies. She can wear the dress frontwards or backwards for a variety of looks (it would also make a sweet nightgown made from eyelet or a vintage handkerchief).
The dress, top and hat are quick and easy to make. I spent a ton of time working out a tiny dress pattern that does not require lots of hems and has no fasteners. You could use the simple technique to create all sorts of little garments. They are just the right size for the tiny rag doll and the pattern scales well for other rag dolls.
The tiny rag doll needed a summer wardrobe. She is headed for the French countryside soon so a big sun hat was a must. The hat is included in the pdf and I’ve shared it below too.
make a mini straw hat:
A couple material notes – I used cheese cloth – it’s cheap and easy to find. You can also experiment with any very light weight, gauzy, open weave cotton or linen fabric for different effects.
The nail polish bottle is used for forming the hat crown – any similar glass or plastic container can be used. The bottle I’m using made a hat that’s just the right size for the tiny rag doll – it is 5/8th inches across.
I’m using elmer’s glue
Paint – I used acrylic craft paint – mixing shades of brown, ochre and white for a straw shade.
I finished the hat with a mini silk ribbon. I love these ribbons and you can find them here. They are great for lots of tiny details and embroidery too (fyi – the miss thistle society gets a small commission if you purchase through the link).
1. Cut a piece of cheesecloth about 5 inches by 5 inches. Cheese cloth has 4 layers and we will use them all.
2. Mix a straw shade of paint and add white glue (about 4 parts glue to 1 part paint). Paint the top 1/4 inch of the cap. Optional – I’m mixing glue into the paint but if you prefer you can just use glue and paint later or leave unpainted.
3. Center the cheesecloth over the cap and pull it tightly over it.
4. Hold the cheesecloth tight with an elastic. Paint a thin layer of glue or the glue paint mixture on the cheesecloth. Let this dry completely.
5. Remove the rubber band and remove the cheesecloth from the bottle and spread it flat on wax paper.
6. Paint the cheese cloth with a thin coat glue or the glue mixture a little wider than you would like the brim. Brush firmly out from the center. Let this dry completely.
7. When it’s dry lift it off the wax paper.
8. Trim the brim to whatever size you like.
To finish you can add ribbon or a mini flower or stitch a detail on the brim or crown with embroidery thread. I used 4mm silk ribbon (affiliate link – meaning the miss thistle gets a tiny commission if you purchase through this link).
I hope you make tiny hats! share your photos with the tiny rag doll community by using #annwoodpattern and #missthistlesociety on instagram.
new fall 2019 workshops
French paper ships, edwardian birds, stitched beetles and toadstools and a sweet needle book. I’m headed back to LA in October for a big week of workshops. And I’m still trying to squeeze a couple more in for 2019 (east coasters stay tuned – how would you feel about Connecticut?). If you’d like to suggest someplace near you that might like to offer a workshop with me let me know.
french paper ships
They glow like the moon and twirl in the breeze. Spend two days making romantic paper vessels with billowy sails. You will learn my top secret paper layering techniques and create your ship hull from antique and handmade papers. The stitched linen and cotton sails will be finished with antique fabrics and garment fragments.
All tools and materials are supplied for this workshop including specialty handmade papers and a collection of antique french paper for finishing, sail fabrics and embellishments and antique buttons and rigging. If you have fabrics or papers that are meaningful to you, you are welcome to bring them, but it is not required. The finished ship measures approximately 13 inches by 18 inches.
Are you traveling? Your ship disassembles and folds flat for travel. It’s magic.
All materials are provided for this workshop. Coffee/tea, lunch and aperos served.
details and registration
edwardian birds
Working with antique garments we will create a creature inspired by ravens and crows. A dark bird with a mysterious and intelligent presence.
You will learn to stitch and sculpt the body shape, create intricate layers of feathers, sculpt talons and carve the beak.
The antique Edwardian mourning garments we will work with provide interesting textures, colors and detail that will be unique to your bird. We will be stitching by hand and machine. The finished bird is 8-9 inches tall.
All materials are provided for this workshop. Coffee/tea, lunch and aperos served.
details and registration
stitched beetles
Spend and evening stitching a sweet beetle with me. We will work with vintage and antique fabrics, lace, wire and a couple secret ingredients to create these whimsical little creatures that fit in the palm of your hand. The finished beetle is approximately 4 inches long (excluding his darling antennae).
All materials are provided for this workshop. Aperos served.
details and registration
stitched mushrooms
Make magical toadstools! We will spend an evening stitching enchanted fungi. You will work with vintage and antique scraps to create caps and stems and you’ll learn the top secret method for making a concave cap underside.
All materials are provided for this workshop. The finished mushroom is 4-6 inches long. Aperos served.
details and registration
needle book
Stitch a little book for your needles and notions and the scraps you can’t part with.
Spend an evening slow stitching with me. We will embellish and personalize pre- sewn pages to create a mini 6 page booklet plus cover and center heart. There will be exquisite antique buttons and fabric and lace scraps to choose from. You will learn to assemble the book, add details, embroidery and create spaces for your notions. The finished book is approximately 3 and ½ by 5 inches.
All materials are provided for this workshop. Aperos served.
details and registraion
sketchbook 5/19 – 5/25
sketchbook 5/12 – 5/18
a misbehaving beetle, homemade spray starch and 4 more little joys
He’s done something. I’m sure of it. It’s all over his face. More about this naughty little beetle in a minute. First I want to tell you about some simple things that are bringing me joy this spring. Since you found your way here they might be up your alley too:
1. sewing in bed
It’s always on the joy list, such a gentle way to wake up. Get something ready to sew the night before and there is nothing at all to think about. Just start sewing. My current bed sewing is sails and needle books (I can’t stop making those little pages). Simple, meditative stitching.
2. the adventures of althea
This is sweet, and beautiful and funny. Dawn Smith has created a magic world for her tiny rag doll and she photographs Althea’s adventures daily.
Follow her while she has tea and visit friends and gardens. It’s awesome.
3. lilacs
It’s such a glorious smell and gone so quickly. When I wake up to the cool spring lilac air I have no choice but to sew in bed. It’s the only responsible thing to do.
4. homemade spray starch
It’s easy to make, cheap, works beautifully and it is non-aerosol and packaging free. Most importantly I did not have to leave my apartment when I ran out of spray starch for my sails.
I love to iron. I’ve been sorting through sail fabric for ships, ironing it and making neat little piles. This is also called procrastination. Productive procrastination but still… Anyway the homemade laundry starch adds even a little more joy to the ironing party.
The starch is just cornstarch and water. Add a couple drops of lavender oil (or whatever you like) for a glorious fresh laundry smell. Laundry is right up there with lilacs for me smell wise. Plus I feel super thrifty and oldschool.
make some laundry starch:
- Whisk 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of cornstarch into 2 and ½ cups water. You’re already almost done.
- Bring the mixture to a boil, boil for about a minute while stirring.
- Remove from the heat and let is cool to room temperature, add a couple drops of scent if you like and pour it through a strainer into a spray bottle.
5 sketchbook
My daily painting and drawings. It’s the best of times, it’s the worst of times, such a huge pain in the a** when I’m super busy. But the joy wins. And it makes me a better thinker.
and a little bonus joy:
I love this tea! I drink buckets of it all day long. You can find it in most grocery stores I think.
what’s on my work table this week
You have met the guilty beetle, the naughty little fellow is regretting his mischief. He is made from gorgeous and very old French scraps. I’m working on lots of misbehaving little french anthropods.
And ships. I love living with them and have been without a personal fleet for too long. This one has a final layer of old paper collage. Come make beetles and paper ships with me this October – I’m teaching several workshops in LA at French General – find info and registration here.
PS – What are you working on? Have you made a doll bed? What smell transports you?
sketchbook 5/5 – 5/11
make a quick and easy mini quilt from scraps
Make a whole stack of them, they’re just the right size for the clothespin doll bed and super quick and fun to make.
These little quilts are the sort I imagine the Sock’s family has mountains of in their big black house in Woebegone Pines. Haphazard, make-do sorts of things, accidentally charming pieced together leftovers, all thread bare from keeping generations of mischievous Socks offspring cozy.
To make your little quilt print the template and gather cotton scraps. Start freestyle piecing them together.
The template makes a doll quilt that is 6 and 1/2 inches X 7 and 1/2 inches. Exactly the right size for the clothespin bed.
You can stitch by hand or machine (I like to use the machine for this). When you’ve got something bigger than the template pin the patchwork to a backing fabric with the right sides together and cut out. Save the patchwork scraps after cutting – you can stitch those together too. You can add a layer of lightweight cotton flannel inside if you like. I prefer the way the quilt drapes without it.
Tip: If you are making a few quilts make one big piece of patchwork and cut them all out. It goes quickly and I think it makes the most interesting compositions.
Stitch the patchwork and backing together. Leave a little opening at one end for turning and clip off the corners.
Turn it right side out and use a chopstick to poke out the corners. Press it and whipstitch the opening. You can quilt through it or not. I mostly went with not but did add some sweet red ties to one quilt.
To make the quilt drape nicely over the bed arrange it and then press it on the bed with a hot iron along the curves and folds.
It’s all ready for mr. socks. I made him pajamas too (using the free little pants pattern) for an even cozier situation but he refused to wear them. You know how mr. socks is…
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sketchbook 4/28 – 5/4
sketchbook 4/21 – 4/27
doll house bed tutorial – part 2 : making the mattress
This tufted doll mattress and pillow fit the clothespin dollhouse bed perfectly. It’s quick and easy to make and perfect for the tiny rag doll.
how to make a tufted doll mattress
You will need:
- the sewing patterns
- a basic sewing kit
- fabric scraps – I used a sweet print from French General – so perfect for a little mattress.
- wool stuffing
- embroidery thread and needle
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1. Cut out the mattress from cotton fabric, pin with right sides together and stitch as shown.
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2. Pull the fabric sides apart at the corners
3. Open the seam allowance with your fingers and press the seams together. Stitch across at 1/4 inch. Do this for all 4 corners.
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4. With all four corners sewn the mattress should look like this.
how to make a doll house bed from clothespins – part one
Do you know somebody very little who needs a bed? A tiny rag doll perhaps? I’ve made you a tutorial for a sweet wooden dollhouse size bed made from clothespins and craft sticks. It is perhaps my greatest gift to humanity. Also, I had an unbelievably good time figuring it out and making it. So obsessed…
It is the latest Miss Thistle Society project, the quest to fully outfit the tiny rag doll’s world. Of course she needs a super cozy bed. The epic instructions for the bed are below and find the instructions for an easy tufted doll mattress here.
I hope you make sweet little beds! Tag your posts on instragram with #annwoodpattern and #missthistlesociety.
how to make a doll house bed from clothespins
note : It is very helpful to read through the directions completely before beginning.
*This post contains affiliate links – if you purchase supplies through some of these links The Miss Thistle Society gets a small commission.
Materials:
- 6 clip clothespins and a few extra for clamping – I’m using these.
- 11 jumbo craft sticks – The sticks are 6 inches by 3/4 inch – available in most craft stores or you can find them here.
- small bamboo skewers – 1 or 2 depending on the length – I’m using these.
- paint
Tools
- wood glue
- wax paper
- scissors
- wire cutter
- ruler
- exacto knife
- paintbrushes
- OPTIONAL – spackle, sandpaper
Cut:
- 8 – 3 and 3/4 inch craft sticks
- 2 – 4 and 3/4 inch craft sticks
- 2 – 4 and 1/2 inch bamboo skewers
- 6 – split clip clothespins
- And 1 whole craft stick
Separate the clothes pins by twisting. I used old but sturdy scissors to cut the craft sticks and wire cutters to snip the skewers.
Accurate measuring is very important to all of this fitting together. And cut your craft sticks as straight as you can.
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1. Make a mark on one side of 4 clothespin halves 1/8th inch from the notch on the flatside.
2. Apply wood glue to the end of one of the 3 and 3/4 inch craft stick pieces.
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3. Working with wax paper underneath press the craft stick against the clothespin -as shown- at the mark. The stick should be at a right angle to the clothespin.
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4. Repeat the previous step so you have two glued sets. Let these dry undisturbed on the wax paper until thoroughly set.
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5. Make 2 more sets and add a second stick to each. Add the second stick next to the first – closer to the tapered end of the clothespin. Let these dry as well. You should now have 4 glued sets of sticks and clothespin halves.
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6. You can use a ruler to check that your sticks are at a right angle to the clothespin.
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7. When the glue is dry gently peel your pieces from the wax paper. Begin with the single stick pieces. They will be fragile so handle them gently. You will also need 2 more clothespin halves and one of your 4 and 1/2 inch skewers.
8. Flip one clothespin and stick set over so the flat side of the clothespin with the notch is facing you. Apply glue to one end of a the skewer.