Felt Stockings

When Kid 1 was a baby, my husband and I collaborated on a project together, and made him a felt Christmas stocking.  Mr. Carlee is a fairly good artist, and at Christmas time he has these silly characters that he draws on cards or other things.  For the stocking we wanted to do something original, so Mr. Carlee drew a little character and letters for his name for me to applique, and I did the rest.  Kid 1 got the Humpty Dumpty elf.

Please don't look too closely at my handiwork, because it really has improved a lot over the last 4 years.  Now that you aren't looking for imperfections, it's cute, eh?

When Kid 2 was born we set at it again to come up with a little character to grace his stocking.  Many of you know this, but he had a pretty rough time for the first few months of life (you can read more about that here), and we truly believe that he's a miracle.  An angel seemed fitting.

This year, our baby could be making an appearance at any moment.  I'm due on Thursday, and I hope she will decided to arrive sometime between now and Christmas Eve.  I wanted to have something ready for her, but since we haven't decided on a name yet, I've only done part of her stocking.   

In the past I've used the 100% wool felt from Joanns, but when I went to buy some more for the stocking, I learned they don't carry it anymore.  I know you can order this kind of thing online, but I hate paying shipping, and I wanted to start work on it as soon as possible (remember, I'm running out of time).  So of course, I turned to my favourite thrift store for supplies.



I picked up a red wool coat for half price, and cut it up.



I was hoping to find something that was a tad heavier, but this was the best I could find that was half price, the right colour, and a solid piece in the back.

After I cut it all up, I washed it in my washing machine with hot water and let it felt up a bit.  I actually ran it through my washer and dryer twice to felt it as much as possible (to make it thicker and stop it from fraying).

The wool is really soft and nice to hold, and it's been fun to work on this fat little reindeer.  For the pieces, I traced my husbands sketch for each felt piece.  I redrew the antlers as carefully as I could with a piece of thin sharpened soap (THE best thing for marking on fabric), and added a few little things to make things looked balanced.   

My favourite touch is the harness with tiny gold jingle bells.  I like to add a little texture to their stockings because I think it gives it a little something extra. 

I wouldn't consider myself to be an embroiderer, but I do know how to do a few basic stitches.  I mostly use a basic back stitch, a running stitch, and my fanciest move is the french knot I use for eyes.  And that is all I can do, but luckily it is enough for what I'm interested in doing.

 

Although I still have the name to (decide on and) applique, I'm feeling pretty good with myself that I have her stocking mostly finished.  I guess this means I'm ready for you to be born now little one!