I don't know about you but one of my most fave childhood Christmas memories was waking up in the early hours feeling the weight on your feet and knowing that Father Christmas had been, filled your stocking and waiting until daylight before I was allowed to open them. Although I was lucky that I was not my mum, as one Christmas two of her sisters, she was the eldest of 12, got up in the middle of the night and swapped the presents around so that they got what they wanted... at least, until my granny woke up! Back then I used my father's socks from his wellingtons, large creamy socks with utilitarian writ large, so we are going to make something a little more aesthetically pleasing for the end of our beds.
You will need the following:
Selection of Christmas fabric strips
1 yard / metre of wide ric rac braiding
Christmas fat quarter, choose one with a good pattern
1/2 yard / metre plain cotton lining fabric
Selection of Christmas ribbons
1/2 yard / metre of cotton batting
Cutting mat, rotary cutter, dressmaking shears
Pins
Iron and ironing board
Let's get cracking, iron your fabrics and set them aside. You will need a template to cut around, either use an old stocking and draw around it, or at this time of the year, there are lots around in magazines and Christmas make books (check out your local library, so use one and adapt to suit you... ie, with a longer, wider leg if you think Father Christmas is going to be generous this year!
Cut out two in cotton batting, two in the plain cotton lining and one in your fat Christmas quarter. Lay your Christmas fat quarter on top of one piece of batting, now this is important, really IMPORTANT, lay the other piece of batting down and ensure that the toe is pointing in the OPPOSITE direction.
Now we are going to layer up the stocking, cut strips of varying widths, now play with them, see which ones work best together. You could lay them in parallel lines down the stocking or fan them out around the heel.
Sew down the strip at the top of stocking using a 1/4" seam allowance, now sew the next strip to the first strip, iron the seam open, continue this until it covers the whole of the stocking. Trim the excess from around the stocking.
Now the fun starts... more is more at Christmas, pop some ribbon over the seams, for the other seams use an embroidery stitch in a contrasting colour... one of those that you have on your machine but never use. You could apply some applique, a snowman or a child's name... make sure you choose children with short names or we could be making Easter stockings!
Pin your ric rac braiding so that the centre is 5/8" away from the edge and sew it down.
Place the two linings together, now put the back of your stocking with the right side up on top of them and finally put the front of your stocking face down so that you can see the reverse. Pin them all together.
You will be able to see the line of sewing that you made to attach the braid. Sew along that line, do not deviate away from it, stay with it all the way around. When you have finished, trim and notch the curves... for a small project like this pinking shears will give you the easing you need.
Now turn it inside out and hey presto your lining is in place... yes, really it is. Pin more braiding around the top of the stocking 5/8" from the top and sew it in place. Measure around the top and add 1 1/4" to this. Now cut a strip of fabric 3" wide by the length you have just measured, sew the ends together using a 5/8" seam allowance. With right sides facing, pin the top strip and the stocking together and just like sewing the stocking up, sew along the seam line used to secure the braiding.
You will now have a raw edge, iron under 5/8" and pin it over the top of the stocking... now you can either slip stitch it into place or top stitch it into place.
Cut a strip of fabric 12" x 3", fold it in half lengthwise, sew across the end and down the length, trim the excess and turn it inside out. Press and fold it in half... so that you have a handle, pin it inside the stocking on the back on the heel side. Machine it into place and now it is ready to hang at the end of your bed or on your fireplace.
And now over to Handmade Monday to see what everyone has been up to over the past week.
People often ask how I come up with ideas for my weekly tutorial, sometimes it is something I spot in a shop which sets me off, other times it can be an article or even a comment from a friend... but this week I surpassed myself... the idea came to me when I was sitting on the loo! I have to admit, I like patterned loo paper, don't ask me why, I just do. Anyway, I ripped a couple of sheets off the roll and found myself staring at an owl, yes, you heard me, the loo paper has owls all over it... so that is where the idea came from...
So let's get started, you will need:
A piece of fabric 6.5" wide by 18" long
A contrasting scrap of fabric and the same amount of iron on interfacing
12" of ric rac braiding
Scissors and/or rotary cutter, cutting mat and rule
Pins, cotton, embroidery cotton and a needle
Paper, wine glass or large cup
Scraps of felt
A bag of rice
A fish knife
A penny
Air erasable pen
Iron and ironing board
Cut out your main piece of fabric, fold over 3.5" at one end, then fold the other end over so it measures 6.5" (it will overlap by an inch) leaving the piece at the back measuring 8". Press it into place.
Now, take your glass and draw around it, then measure the diameter of the circle and make a dot the same distance from the edge of the circle. Now draw a line to each side of the circle, it will look like a big tear, but when we cut it in half down the centre and you have created a pair of wings for your owl.
Pin the pattern pieces onto your contrasting fabric and cut them out. Now, lay them on top of you interfacing an iron it on. Cut away the excess interfacing and pin the wings in place on the long side of the fabric, I placed mine two inches above the short fold (which is on the other side) and sew it into place staying as close to the edge as you can. Next take your ric rac braiding and place it over the raw stitched edge of the wing... do not worry about the braid only being able to go in straight lines, it will happily ease around the curves. Pin it in place and now sew it down.
Decide what colour you want your owl's eyes to be, I chose a chocolate brown, pop two pennies onto the felt and draw around them. Put the felt circles where you feel they look right for your eyes. I sewed them in place using an embroidery thread, come up through the middle and go to 12 o'clock sew into the back, then back up through the middle and sew down to six o'clock, repeat then for three and nine o'clock. Now do the same between each of these stitches (eight in total)... hmmm, the middle looks a bit uninspiring, so finish it with a little french knot. Now, repeat this for the other eye.
For the beak cut out a square about an inch wide, fold it diagonally, place it beneath the eyes and sew it from corner to corner... now your owl is almost there.
Pin the ends together, leave a 3" gap in the middle and sew a half inch seam on each side.
Now pin the sides together and sew a 5/8" seam. Check where your eyes are, because this is the top of the doorstop. Mark in 1/2" down the side seam and across the top fold and another dot an inch from the side seam on both sides, draw up from the side to the dot on the fold, the down to the next dot, draw a line across to the dot on the other side and create the other triangles ... you have just marked out the ears, sew along the line and trim it close to the seam.
At the bottom of the owl, we are going to create a base like we did with Deborah's tote bag, iron open the seam and use the seam to bisect the triangle you have created, sew it an inch from the point and sew it across twice and trim off the excess.
Now turn your owl right sides out, use the fish knife to poke out the ears and the base.
Fill the door stop with rice (you will be relieved to know I did not use the risotto rice in the picture but a cheaper rice), fill it and then poke your fingers in there as you will probably be able to pop in about a quarter more.
Pin the opening together and slip stitch it in place.
Set your owl on the floor and let it do its job.
You are probably wondering why it is called Carrie's owl, well I sat next to her at my last job and she loved owls, and is a wonderful artist as well as mother, also she had some of the best asides I have ever heard... and if she is not careful she may find one winging its way to her!
Now on you go over to Wendy's Handmade Monday and see what everyone has been doing during the past week. I missed posting last weekend because I was busy celebrating my birthday at our Jubilee Street Party.
