cardboard horses

January 21, 2014
by annwood

Way back in 2006 I made 100 cardboard horses as an experiment and creative exercise – I exhibited the group in Los Angeles in 2007. I’ve added cormac and the other 16 remaining horses (some of my favorites) from the collection to my shop.

PS -If you are getting snow I hope you’re enjoying it. I am getting snow and enjoying it.

botanical experiments

January 20, 2014
by annwood

I’m working on botanical shapes including some small toadstools – little experiments in color and texture. They are  a numbered series -with signed hand sewn tags with the number and date for each. I’m using mostly Japanese garment fragments (courtesy of Sri Threads)  with rich color and history.

I like the idea of these turning up unexpectedly (as mushrooms sometimes do) on a hook or knob or a drawer pull. I’m also working on others- flower and  seed pod sorts of shapes.  These will be in my shop very soon and next September I’m teaching a class at Squam on making botanical shapes with textiles – you can get more info here.

If you’d like to be notified when they are available you can join my mailing list here.

sweet things

January 19, 2014
by annwood

I designed a new cake topper over the summer: Flamingos in Love.

I painted miles of crepe paper in very particular shades of pink and coral.

They are available in my shop now as well as at BHLDN.  I’m also thinking of putting a “make it your self” kit together for these – what do you think?

I loved working with crepe paper and I’ve got something else for the cute department in the works – here are a couple sneak peeks:

designing soft sculpture or toys

December 18, 2013
by annwood

Abby Glassenberg makes wonderfully imaginative and incredibly well made toys and in her new book “Stuffed Animals: From Concept to construction” she shows you how to make them as well as how to create your own designs.


This is a solid, comprehensive guide to sewing 3 dimensional shapes – essential skills are explained and demonstrated clearly through 16 delightful and detailed projects.

As you make each project you learn a skill to use in creating your own inventions – like darts and gussets and joints.

tools

The 52 lessons, tips, tricks and equipment overview make this a great place to start  for beginners as well as an excellent reference for more advanced sewers interested in designing patterns or soft sculpture or improving the quality of their work.

I don’t generally review things here but this book answers  questions I’m asked so frequently I wanted to offer it as reference for anyone interested in sewing their own designs.

a new shape on my work table

December 17, 2013
by annwood
lamb and goat sewing pattern

I  started working on a new pattern in October.

It’s a long process for me – experiments and  trial and error – I enjoy it immensely.  I make piles and piles of prototypes and duds – learning a little bit from each. It wakes me up early and keeps me up late.  This is the first finished lamb:

A  Fortuny lamb – he was auctioned in November at  The Littlest Lamb gala here in NY – The Littlest Lamb is an incredibly inspiring organization – they ‘re  building an orphanage in Egypt.

The next lambs  were made from vintage tablecloths.

I love vintage linens and I very particularly love vintage linens with roses.  I had 2 that wanted to be lambs – both had some staining in areas making them not so desirable to use as  tablecloths – otherwise I would have saved them for the country home I will ultimately have.

3 lambs

I also used a depression era drape I found upstate last summer and  one  little black lamb is made from edwardian garments. I’ve finished a little flock now and they will arrive in the shop tomorrow 12/18 (noonish EST).

Whenever I post about creating  a new creature or pattern I always get a ton of email from people who would like to do the same – looking for a course or a book. I haven’t known of a great resource until lately:  Abby Glassenberg has written a comprehensive guide to sewing in 3 dimensions and I’ll tell you more about it in my next post.

theater

December 14, 2013
by annwood

week 50  in my “this is where i am from” year long project:

I had a serious puppet phase. For years I got a marionette for Christmas every year, made some myself and my father made me one, a king.  He also made me a theater from a dishwasher box,  it was covered with classic 70’s striped contact paper and I painted scenery on an old window shade and sewed costumes for the puppets.

an interruption

December 4, 2013
by annwood

week 47,48,49  in my “this is where i am from” year long project:

Well there has been an interruption hasn’t there – Weeks 47,  48 and 49  will be the weeks that never were. Hopefully I’ll back on track next week. I hurt my back on the 18th and I tried to ignore that  because I really, really didn’t have the time or patience for my back to be hurt. That made things much, much worse until everything came to a grinding halt on the 20th.  I’m nearly better now and dealing with the work overload mess this interruption has caused.  This experience has  gotten my attention. I’ve been working at a ridiculous pace for too long. I need to change things in a big way going forward. I’ll share that with you as I figure it out – right now it is 0% figured out.

And I  I wanted to show you these – a couple weeks ago  I posted a drawing of a clothespin ballerina ornament I made as a child – I made the drawing from memory – but my sister found the ballerina!  It was packed away with family Christmas treasures along with another I made that I had forgotten about.

I think my dad must have made the ballerina arms for me and the soldier’s arms are wooden coffee stirrers (do they still make those?) – maybe you know someone little who would like to make these.