Category: on my work table

songbird work, a spider and a seedpod

January 21, 2016

by annwood

I’m working on a little group of songbirds – some made from Japanese garment fragments and 2 from Edwardian garments. Their beaks are carved from twigs collected over the summer and their legs are paper mache over wire. Hoping to have all 6 finished and photographed for next week. The commitment to add new things to the shop every Thursday has been a good push so far – a good sort of pressure.

And a couple newly finished things – both are in the shop now along with rag doll #1 – a hand stitched botanical experiment and a bustled spider.

Don’t go away mad little spider – just go away.

the beacon, the compass, the driving force – my list

January 5, 2016

by annwood

Are you a list maker? I work best and most happily when I am diligent about creating thoughtful, daily to do lists. I’m moving multiple, large-ish projects forward at the same time and I would be lost without my list. My list gets me to do things I don’t want to do, things I’m uncomfortable with or intimidated by. One of my current projects is putting together my first kit- paper flamingos. I love creating the instructions but there are tons of other details to work out, details I don’t love dealing with – wholesale suppliers, packaging, printing, assembling and distributing. It is on my list and I chip away at it every day.

The difference in what I accomplish and how much happier the work is when I take the time to carefully and thoughtfully make my list is so remarkable, such a dramatic shift, I’ve spent some time thinking about why. Why beyond the obvious benefits of being more organized, not forgetting things etc. I came up with some reasons and I saved the one I think is most important for last:

* I tailor my lists to my own personal brand of nuttiness – the anxiety and procrastination, indecision and overwhelm I’m so prone to. Tasks I REALLY don’t want to do get assigned small chunks of time – 15 minutes – 30 minutes etc. So much easier to start and to focus when an end is in sight. A surprising amount can be accomplished in 15 truly focused minutes. I use a timer for these sorts of tasks. I mix those short bursts with longer, more open ended work. My day feels designed.

* Breaking things down into time chunks changes my relationship with time – I am conscious of, and accountable for my minutes – less time slips mysteriously away – I push harder and squeeze things in.

* It’s effective even when I screw up. If I’ve over-scheduled myself – it’s easy to see and fix going forward.

* I’m less anxious about what I’m not doing at any given moment – I know it’s planned for – has it’s own focused chunk of time instead of floating around in a vague and oppressive cloud of things that need to be done.

And the biggest benefit:

It can be hard to feel momentum and progress on large or longterm projects and goals. Checking things off on a list is undeniable evidence of progress and a chance to congratulate yourself a little and build momentum. I save my lists and when I’m feeling frustrated or stuck I can look back and see how far I’ve come.

Lists are a way of celebrating and recording little successes – and that is terribly important in accomplishing big things.

P. S. If you would like an email notification when the flamingo kit is ready to go you can sign up here.

sewing frenzy and letting go of outcome

December 13, 2015

by annwood

This is what a sewing frenzy looks like. I’ve been working on a large ship and I began with a very specific idea of what I wanted it to be. The ship did not cooperate and taught me a lesson about letting go of outcome. Plans are great but sometimes things need to percolate and meander. I un-did most of my work ( painful) and pulled out just about everything – kimonos, gowns, boro – tons of stuff – and camped out for hours experimenting. A ship is emerging – not at all what I expected and I love it. It’s a ship that wanted to be what it wanted to be – each thought, each scrap, building on the next, layering into something new.

Hoping to finish tomorrow and have it in the shop this week. I’m working on a couple owls as well – a big guy and a little guy – both dastardly and made from Edwardian bodices.

on my work table : a dark bird

November 12, 2015

by annwood

I’m working on a dark bird made mostly from an Edwardian bodice ( you can see it here). I wish you could feel the texture of the velvet ribbon – it feels like the silky top of a cat’s nose. The dark bird is one of several pieces I’m working on – dastardly owls among them. It’s been a long time since I made things for myself, for my own shop, it’s been a year of special projects, wholesale, collaborations and pattern making.

The wings are stitiched an stitched, it’s a slow and peaceful kind of sewing. Her beak is carved from a twig – I use an exacto knife on a nice hard dry twig and then sand, stain and buff them. I think this bird’s feet will be made from paper mache. For a bird of this size (it’s one of the largest I’ve made) and owls I use 16 gauge wire for the feet and leg armature. If you’re curious there is a full list of my favorite resources and supplies here.

star folk and crate and barrel ornaments

October 7, 2015

by annwood

I’m shooting pattern steps for some sweet little star folk – there are five stars with different expressions and a sleepy moon. They can be ornaments, a garland, a twinkly mobile or someone could be an adorable meteor shower for halloween. It’s a quick and easy project – look for the pattern early next week.

And in other ornament news – I know it’s early – but in 2013 and 14 I tried to wait until what felt like a festive and civilized time to mention my Crate and Barrel ornaments and they were sold out before I told you about them. So I’m not taking any chances. You can find the sleepy goats and lambs and baking mice online now and they should be in stores by the end of the month. I’m pretty excited about them.

what’s on my work table in the adirondacks

August 26, 2015

by annwood

It’s a good thing I like to sew. I brought an ambitious amount of work to the Adirondacks with me, partly because it needed to get done and partly because I couldn’t decide what to leave behind – I wanted to do it all. I’ve been getting a ton done on my favorite porch, sewing for happy and peaceful hours and listening to the wind in the pines – it sounds almost too magical and mysterious to be real.

I love the big old house – it’s falling apart and has just the right amount of charm and creepy. I chose a couple of the things I’m working on and a few more glimpses of the place and it’s haunted corners to share.

And a little personal mending – I just can’t let them go….

songbird work and an upcoming stoop sale

August 19, 2015

by annwood

I wanted to show you a little more songbird progress – she has fancy tail feathers. They take ages to sew but I love them. She’s made from beautiful plum Sri textiles.

And I’m having another annual-ish stoop sale! The virtual kind – I’ll put everything on Etsy. I’ve just started photographing treasures I’m ready to part with. There is still lots more to sort though and decide about – I haven’t even started going through fabric and lace. There will probably be some antique garments too. It’s at least a couple weeks away but I’ll post the date and time as soon as possible and more previews soon. Here are a few things I’ve decided to let go of – they have been lovely for me and now they can be lovely for someone else.

I love the doll clothespins – most of them are antique and beautifully made – I hope they make some doll very happy.

sleepy august and a brief survey regarding the holidays

August 5, 2015

by annwood

This August feels so thick and slow and sleepy, everything shimmers and that strange cicada sound – it all feels a little otherworldly to me. Even the creatures I’m making are golden and languid. August is also when I work on holiday designs. I’m planning on some ornament patterns for the shop and I would love your opinion on a couple things. I posted a survey ~~here – it’s super brief – just 3 questions and as a thank you you get a coupon for 30% off patterns~~ (the survey is closed). I had fun with my handmade Christmas last year and you can check out that post if you’d like to get an early start – there are links to patterns and free projects and ideas. Also in the holiday department – I just saw samples of designs I made for Crate and Barrel this year and I can’t wait to show you – I’m so happy with them.

Have a lovely weekend – I’ll leave you with a couple sleepy Fortuny creatures.

Louis, he got all dressed up for you in his summer best.

do – overs – the agony and the ecstasy

July 1, 2015

by annwood

I got about 85% done with my mushroom pattern and decided to scrap all the photos and start over. The text for the steps is all good but I didn’t like the photos. I struggled with them throughout the process, re-shot one section to try to make myself feel better about them, re-edited, applied some photo shop magic but it was all for not – they weren’t what I wanted and they were not frankly – good enough. It’s so painful to come to that place and make that decision this far into a project. Or rather- it’s painful UNTIL I make that decision. I agonized over it for a couple days – wondering if I was being too critical or using perfectionism to procrastinate because I got cold feet – sometimes at the end I get nervous and look for flaws so I can delay – this is not that. They just weren’t good enough.

So I decided, started over and felt better right away. The extra work is far less painful than publishing something I don’t feel good about. I put together a new step shooting set up before beginning that made everything easier. It’s not fancy but it works well and I got through half the photography today.

I’m much happier with the new photos – they are simpler, clearer, more consistent and prettier than the others (gorgeous fabrics courtesy of Sri Threads). I’ll sail through the rest of the photography tomorrow morning and drop them into the document over the weekend.

And in other news – a little more progress on my Fortuny creatures: a recently finished owl – in Fortuny Simboli (cinnamon and copper).

toadstool pattern progress

June 25, 2015

by annwood

The toadstool pattern is just about done. I’ve got a few steps to reshoot and then a little more work on the document and it’s ready to go. I’ve taught this class a couple of times and that definitely helped in writing the steps.

It took two years of experimenting to get the shape I wanted in my toadstools. Two years of almost there but not quite. I am pathologically persistent – relentless. The most difficult part was finding a reasonably efficient way of making the concave shape for the underside, reasonably efficient and reproducible. I tried so many things – some with interesting results – like foam padded bra inserts – but it wasn’t exactly what I wanted. What I ultimately came up with is simple and has a lot of flexibility – the shape and effect can be varied with little adjustments – it’s fun to play with.

(photo by Andi Schrader)

I loved teaching the class – the steps seem odd until all of a sudden a toadstool appears. I hope one of the takeaways from my botanical experiment classes and this pattern is thinking innovatively about shape building and materials.

So stay tuned and if you would like to be notified by email when new patterns are released you can sign up here.

on my work table

June 18, 2015

by annwood

I’ve been working on a huge collection of creatures for Fortuny. Today I’m fitting patient foxes for kimonos – it takes a long time and they never complain or fidgit – they are always solemn and still. The fit is precise – especially at the back of the neck and they are fully lined and have fancy obis. Sewing them is still complicated for me, it’s a different sort of sewing than I usually do and figuring it out is interesting – it activates my beginners brain – always a good thing.

Dressing the foxes reminds me of a story I read as a child. I must have been about nine when I first read it and I still have the book, an illustrated collection of stories for bigger little folks.

“The Doll That Was Rich” was a favorite story about 2 little girls named Cosy and Marlie – the names alone intrigued me. It was read so frequently that the book still falls open to the page:

” On the table in front of them were two dolls, one dressed and one partially dressed. Beside them was an open parcel, full of bits of bright colored silk; and beside that again was a work basket.”

I still love the idea of a basket of fancy scraps and somebody to dress up.

on my work table

May 14, 2015

by annwood

I’m working on a bunch of things all at once that I hope I can show you finished next week. That’s the plan anyway – for the last ten days or so I’ve been working differently (p.s. still standing up) and it is having a magical effect…. I’ll tell you all about it on Monday. For now here’s a bit of what I’m working on:

A dastardly indigo fellow made from my most treasured pieces from Sri Threads. I love all the mending, the other hands and the layering and textures – so owly.

And ships and boats and little passengers – spring is always for building ships. I finished a large ship and owl and photographed them earlier this week – it’s been lingering here captainless and almost done for weeks. A note on photographing ships and boats – they move. They have sails so they twirl constantly – to help them be still for a sharp photo I tie a spool of thread to the stern and / or the bow and then use the spool to position them at the angle I want and anchor them – the thread is easy to get rid of in a photo editor like iphoto with the touch up tool.