Teaching the World to Embroider
Hannah went on TikTok to sell her embroidery kits and nothing's been the same since
When COVID-19 closed the physical therapy business where Hannah worked, she decided to try her hand at embroidery entrepreneurship. (Photo: Sherwood Forest Creations)
Want to stitch a simple outline of your dog’s ears and frame it? Make the cutest ornaments ever for Christmas? How about a lavish embroidered rendition of your wedding bouquet? These and many other thread crafts are the brainchildren of Hannah Arnold, owner of Sherwood Forest Creations in rural Michigan. She taught herself how to embroider in 2019 and a few years later business exploded. Now she is letting all of us in on this ancient art that is supremely satisfying, versatile and gorgeous.
This beginner’s design, called “Evelyn’s Bouquet of Daisies” is one of Arnold’s most popular kits. (Photo: Sherwood Forest Creations)
Sherwood Forest Creations offers a host of options, with dozens of original designs that are sold as DIY kits. Everything is backed with access to Arnold’s engaging and easy-to-follow tutorials, which do not skip any details and offer lots of encouragement to the novice stitcher. No time for fancy but need a little something on your jeans pocket? Try one of these.
I met Arnold about five years ago when I came upon her extraordinary red shed on Instagram while running She Shed Living. With its lofty height, handmade track door and lean-to side porch built entirely with reclaimed materials by her husband, it was like no shed I had ever seen before. Arnold photographs it in all seasons and it is especially wonderful at Christmas, with the snow swirling all around.
This shed was built entirely out of siding from a razed barn nearby. Arnold’s husband put it on a platform that doubles as a wraparound porch. (Photo: Sherwood Forest Creations)
Arnold wanted a studio to work in and she pulled in a $50 thrift store couch, a couple of tables and a large green file cabinet for her crafting supplies. It was a side gig until she got laid off during her maternity leave in 2020.
This old file cabinet just needed some cleaning and a butcher block topper to become one of Arnold’s most valuable work pieces. (Photo: Sherwood Forest Creations)
Taking the leap into a stitching business
“I decided to see if I could make a living doing embroidery and teaching others,” Arnold says. She started by making kits and then scheduling Zoom calls to conduct a follow-up tutorial. Excited and ready to jump in full-time, Arnold waited for the orders to come flowing in.
Nothing happened.
“It just bombed,” Arnold says in her website’s “Our Story” video. “I didn’t sell a single one. I tried selling them on Etsy and still didn’t sell any.” A friend suggested she get on TikTok and so Arnold started posting videos of herself creating designs, giving tips and showing her studio and work setup to her growing number of followers. My favorites are watching Arnold “walk to work” from her house to her shed about 100 yards yonder.
This is Arnold on her morning commute, sliding down the hill on her kids’ sled between her house and the studio/shed. (Photo: Sherwood Forest Creations)
Then things started to roll, fast. Hundreds of followers came each week, to see what Arnold would do next. Finish a 40-hour bouquet commission? Show what happens when she nurses a cold and doesn’t come into the shed for four days (hint: lots of spiders)? Cut through inches of fabric in one stroke with the most amazing cutting power tool ever? The stories resonated and the orders came thick and fast. At last count, her followers are above 250K.
Arnold’s immensely popular holiday ornaments come in kits with everything included. You’ll learn many of the most common stitches by watching Arnold’s accompanying how-to videos. (Photo: Sherwood Forest Creations)
TikTok was the magic sauce that made Arnold famous in the online embroidery world. She is a natural on video, with a beautiful smile and super funny midwestern humor. When not talking about her passion for embroidery, Arnold sometimes sounds off on people with retouched faces selling retinol. Her vibe is real and relatable.
Stitch kits, stick-and-stitch patches and more
At the foundation of Sherwood Forest Creations are the embroidery kits. The shop contains mostly beginner designs of single flowers, bouquets, hearts, butterflies, plants and berries. Included in each kit is the stamped cloth, embroidery hoop, thread, needle and instructions for accessing the tutorials. Special stork scissors are available on the website and the pretty wood frames can be ordered through a third-party website.
A year or so ago, Arnold came up with the idea for a dissolvable paper sticker with a variety of designs. You just put it on clothing, stitch the design right through the paper and then soak off the sticker in water. She calls them “stick-and-stitch” patches and they are a great way to personalize a gift or your own clothing.
This custom kit offers an outline of your dog’s ears with a crown of flowers surrounding them. It is a meaningful pet memorial piece and Arnold gets a lot of orders for them. (Photo: Sherwood Forest Creations)
Best workplace ever
Through it all, this shed shines through. Filled with humble serviceable furnishings and lots of embroidery supplies, it comes alive each day with Arnold, her nap-happy dogs Tater and Bear, and a hardworking employee she calls “Mom.”
Arnold’s mom often comes by to prep kits, bundle thread and cut patches. “Right now she’s my only employee,” Arnold says. (Photo: Sherwood Forest Creations)
Arnold is a busy mother of two school-age children and a business that has expanded beyond her wildest dreams. Although her shipping and fulfillment are housed neatly in the home’s basement, it is in the shed where all her creativity takes place. And perhaps it is that same getaway place where she can recharge and surround herself with the pieces and furnishings she loves.
Typically this antique velvet settee is host to Arnold’s dog Tater, or her cat Carl, or both. (Photo: Sherwood Forest Creations)
Between the warm setting of her workplace and the magnificent forested property surrounding her home, it’s no wonder Arnold’s imagination is sparked every single day. Her embroidery business not only supports her family, it provides a little bit of the Sherwood Forest to anyone who opens a kit and starts to stitch.
