July 30, 2026

TDITM 26 August Challenge: Maid a-Milking

Not a bird, y’all! Welcome to the new challenge for August. If you are participating in my Twelve Days in Twelve Months sewing challenge to complete one Twelve Days ornament a month, it’s time to make a maid!

Ms. Milking is the first of five people ornaments which make up the rest of the series. This is where the skills you’ve been honing since the start of the series will come in handy, as the people are a wee bit more complex. But so charming! No worries, you got this. *double high fives*

*Shown above: Maid a-Milking ornaments. Color guide for left maid is **here**, center/right maids are **here**.*

HEADS UP: With the advent of the people ornaments, you’ll be trying a new skill: creating wood bead heads. Do not panic! Because they are made with just a few simple shapes and fabric markers, it’s not as difficult as you might think. Check out my handy head tutorial, then look for the detailed instructions for the maid’s head in the pattern. Remember, if ink is just too scary you can use colored pencils for the faces.

*This is the Maid from last year’s **TDITM** challenge for my daughter, Abigail*

Because I’m alternating my colors again this year, my maid will be sewn in the pink/red end of Lydia’s color palette. I can’t wait to figure out what color I’ll use where. It’s a safe bet that there will be a color freak-out like every other month of this challenge, but hopefully it won’t involve a complete redo.

SHARE YOURS: Add a photo of your completed ornaments in the comments of this month’s pinned Facebook post, or tag your Instagram post with @mmmcrafts and #twelvedaysin12months to share your progress! (Please, no photos of my pattern pages.)

Buy the Maid a-Milking pattern if you don’t have it yet. (Or if you need the whole series, the 1-12 bundle is the best discounted price and contains bonus materials!)