Making a Christmas stocking for baby's 1st Christmas

[TimeForCake]

I'd like to make DS a stocking for his first Christmas. I thought just getting some Xmas style patchwork fabrics would look nice on red felt but finding them is proving more difficult than I thought. They seem to be in huge bundles online.
My sewing skills are not exactly at expert level so maybe buying a kit would be a better idea? I can also imagine that me drawing a perfect stocking template may take some time too!

Has anyone done anything similar and been really pleased with their results? Please share your expertise with an enthusiastic novice! Can anybody point me in the direction of where to buy the bits and pieces- ready made kit or otherwise. I may not end up with a perfect stocking but I've got the idea in my head now so would like to give it a go.

(If you have recently bought a stocking that you're really pleased with, let me know too, in case I fail miserably and need a quick solution! )

I've recently made one for my friends baby. All she said was she wanted it in navy and red, so I rummaged through my pile of fabric and made it using remnants from other jobs, and some maternity clothes passed onto me for cutting up.

I drew up a stocking shape on a piece of newspaper and planned the pieces to go on it, then made patterns for them too. I appliquéd some pieces on it and hand embroidered name and date, with jingly bells added too!

The resulting pic in on my personal page. But she's now asked me to make another, not the same, one for her older boy, got to get my thinking cap on again.

posted on your other thread....

red felt - will stretch if you get anything much in there. Try red fabric instead. Patchwork fabric can be bought in small quantities from many patchwork shops - buy one "fat quarter" (about 22 inches by 12 inches) of whatever takes your fancy. ALso buy some lining fabric if you want stocking to last for many years. An old pillowcase will work!

Draw a stocking shape on some paper as your pattern. There's no right or wrong way. Make sure its quite a fat stocking, so the neck (Ankle) is broad, and the "instep" bit of the foot stocking (IYSWIM). You'll want it to have a angled/pointed toe. Remember to include a geneous seam allowance

Decorate your stocking front first - i.e. sew on the patchwork plus any fancy cuff at the top, buttons, bows etc.

If using a lining, sew the stocking top to the lining top - right sides facing. (top being the bit where you would stuff the toys.)

do the same for the back of the stocking.

Now place right sides together and start sewing...your aim is to sew a continuous line, leaving the base (sole) of the lining open.

One you have finished sewing, put the whole lot inside out and ease out the toes and heels. sew up the hole in the base of the liner, and tuck liner inside stocking.

Iron well.

SHould take you about an hour total

I've put some pics of the stocking that I've just finished making for my DD for her first Christmas on my profile. It took me hours days (I've never done any patchwork before) but I'm really pleased with the result. I bought 20cm lengths of several Christmas fabrics from my local shop and used them together with bits of ribbon and braid that I had.

The stocking top is cross stitch. If you like doing cross stitch you could do something similar with a plain stocking.

BananaSundae - I really like your stocking. Did you follow a pattern?

Banana, that's lovely.

OP, I made a stocking for my DS last year very quickly (I'd left it to the last minute...).

I cut out 2 stocking shapes from a piece of white felt using pinking shears (so no need to hem) and sewed them together using running stitch in white embroidery thread (about 1 cm in from the edge). I then appliqued his initial on the front in red cotton and folded over the top to make a sort of 'puss in boots' top, (iyswim) which I then trimmed with red rickrack. I attached a ribbon loop and that was it.

It took me an evening and I was really chuffed - not least because I actually managed to finish it.

HTH - and good luck!

Wow thanks everyone for so much help! It's really been useful.

Flutterbye and BananaSundae - I love your stockings, they look great! You have both inspired me, just hope mine ends up half as good.

Shongololo - thanks so much for all the detail and tips. Having read your post, I would definitely have gone wrong very easily. Your advice will be a great help.

Madamimadam - am really pleased to know that it can be done quickly too, so that if I completely mess it up, I should be able to produce something in the 11th hour!

Thanks again everyone

Thanks for the lovely comments. I didn't use a pattern (other than for the cross-stitch picture) I just kind of made it up as I went along.

First I drew a pattern on some brown paper. Then to do the patchwork side I drew what I wanted the patchwork to look like on the pattern. The corner was tricky - I sewed two pieces together then put the pattern on the ironing board and ironed where the edge of the next piece should start. (I'm a complete beginner in terms of doing patchwork so there must be an easier way than this! ) Once I got to the straight bits it was easy I just cut strips to the right width allowing for the seam allowance and away I went. I then cut the patchwork into a stocking shape using the pattern. I decided to quilt it so cut more stocking shapes out of wadding and an old pillowcase and sewed the three layers together along all of the seams. I then covered the seams (which were looking a bit dodgy in the corner!) with some ribbon and braid.

For the other side I just quilted it and skipped the patchwork stripes (drawing where I wanted to quilt on the pillowcase) and added some patchwork stars (these were the trickiest bit, I think I overcomplicated making them).

Then I sewed the two sides together leaving a gap at the top. I also did the same with some red fabric to use as a lining. The top was made with cross stitch and I backed it with some white lining. To assemble the stocking I did something slightly different to Shongololo. I put the stocking the right way round then put the lining inside. The stocking top was then put inside the stocking inside out and I sewed along the top seam then folded the stocking top out over the edge. Really hard to describe but if you unfold the stocking top you can see the seam IYSWIM (but it doesn't matter because the top will always be folded down). Let me know if this doesn't make sense and I can post a picture of it.

My mum made me a stocking out of felt when I was born and it lasted all through my childhood without stretching (it's probably still in the loft somewhere!) and it was stuffed fill of presents every year by Father Christmas . If you're using felt it would probably be best to get some good quality thick stuff rather than the thin type that you get in hobbycraft, etc.

Thanks so much for all your help BananaSundae, it's really appreciated. I need to read through all the posts again now and sort out exactly what I need to do.

Off to buy some material and bits and pieces tomorrow . Bet I leave with more than I need!

How lovely that the stocking that your Mum made lasted all that time. I'm not convinced mine will, but I'm really looking forward to having a go. I get the feeling that it's going to be addictive though!

Thanks again.

I got some material that was printed with a picture for both sides of the stocking. I then bought some plain green fabric and some thin wadding. I stitched the wadding to the green fabric in roughly diamond pattern and used that for the lining.

Did one for both dd and dh, and then later did one for me as didn't want to feel left out.