Christmas Stocking 2021 Part Two

 

Stocking for our house

     Last week I showed you the three stockings I made for our newest grandson and his parents.  I sent those off for them to hang on their fireplace mantle.  Then I needed to make one to have here on our fireplace mantle.

Washaway topper for name 

     I went to Ace Hardware and bought an undecorated stocking.  I brought it home and basically took it apart so I could embroider his name and a design.  The stockings that I have here at my house for his mom and dad have the toe facing left.  I did the embroidery so that it would face the same way as his parents.

Mitten applique detail

     I used a washaway topper on top of the furry fabric so that the thread would not get lost in the fur.  For the design on the stocking, I used a design from Designs by JuJu.  I used fabric from the stocking I had made for him before and fussy cut the mitten fabric to highlight an animal on each mitten.  After doing the embroidery, I stitched the stocking back together.  Now he will be all ready for Santa to bring him stuff to our house also.
 

Christmas Stocking 2021 Part One

 

Christmas forest animals

     With a new grandbaby being born in September, it was time to make a stocking for him.  I consulted with my daughter-in-law and she sent me several photos of ones she liked. I went to JoAnn Fabrics to get some fabric.  I found this fun animal print that she really liked.  After some more discussion, we decided it would be a patchwork type stocking.  I found some prints that coordinated including a plaid that I cut on the bias.

Adult stockings fabrics

     I also found out that neither she or my son had a stocking for their home.  She then sent me a photo of a quilt with colors that my son liked.  I found some fabrics that were similar in color and got those for their stockings.

Name placement (see pin at arrow)

     I then pulled out the pattern I had from Embroidery Library that I had used to make stockings for the other grandchildren.  The cuff fabric is a piece of linen I have in my stash.  She wanted the toe pointing to the right so I found the center of the top of the cuff on the left half.  I placed a pin so I knew where I had to embroider the name.

Hooped cuff fabric

    

      I hooped sticky paper and then placed the cuff fabric down.  I stitched out his name that I had set up with my MasterWorks software.  I chose a color that matched one of the colors in the animal print fabric.

Name all stitched out

     I used the same font for all three stockings.  I then pieced the fabric strips and cut out my stocking shapes.  I used fusible fleece on the back of the outer pieces to give them more body.  I then cut the lining pieces and a hanging loop.  I assembled the stocking so the seam is under the cuff.  

Gabriel's stocking

     I then did his dad's stocking the same way but just put on a solid, not pieced back.

Dad's stocking

     For his mom's stocking, I wanted to do something a little different.  As my inspiration, I used a stocking I had done many years ago that I hang as a decoration in my family room.  It had appliquéd toe and heel pieces.  I did an appliquéd tree also on her stocking.

Inspiration stocking and details

     It was fun making these stockings with some input from the final consumer.  They are definitely different than the others I have done.

Mom's stocking

Boxed Circle Pillow

 

Boxed circle pillow

     I used just two fabrics for this Pretty in Purple boxed circle pillow. First I made the form that I would use in this pillow.

Boxed circle pillow form

     For this pillow I made the form and outer cover the same size.  Next time I would make the cover 1 inch smaller because I think it would have looked nicer if the pillow was more stuffed.  I cut the the form cover from lining fabric and stuffed it with a polyester cluster stuffing from Rowley.  

Ready for the form

     I used the foam welt cord for this pillow as it keeps the round shape better than the cotton welt cord.  One side of the pillow is a circle with the covered cord. I cut a 14" circle and the boxing strip 42" x 3".  For the reverse I cut a rectangle 42" x 7 1/2" ( circumference plus 1" for seam allowance by one half the diameter plus 1/2" SA)  The welt cord is sewn to either side of the boxing strip and then sew that to the circle for one side and the rectangle, seamed, for the other side.

Gathered sunburst

      

      Place the form inside the pillow fabric.  Use a long running stitch along the the inside edge of the pillow front and pull the stitches tightly to form a sunburst pattern.  Knot securely.

Interfaced fabric for buttons

Buttons to be covered

     I used a fusible knit interfacing to back the button fabric.  The button forms I used were 1 1/8" forms from Rowley. Next time I think I would use a slightly larger button as it was hard to cover the hole completely.

Sewing the buttons

     I used a mattress needle to sew on the buttons, pulling tightly to make a nice indentation on each side.  I would change a few things for the next one but overall I was happy with this first sample.