Making A Christmas Stocking Using A Fabric Panel

[LetThereBeCupcakes]

I got a bit carried away in our local fabric shop the other day and bought a Christmas Stocking Fabric Panel (amongst many, many other things). It's very similar to this. It did not come with any instructions. I did ask the lady in the shop and she vaguely told me to stitch around the design and I didn't think to ask further. What should I do with it? I've found this tutorial so I think I know what I'm doing with the stocking itself, it's just the quilting bit. Do I backstitch around the design? All of it? It's quite detailed. What coloured thread should I use? Do I go through the fabric panel and the wadding together? Sorry... Not really sure what I'm doing with this!

I should say I have a bit of experience - I've made dresses and soft toys but only following instructions. I'm a bit lost without very clear, idiot-proof instructions...

Well, what you've bought isn't a kit for a quilted stocking...it seems to be just a basic two part pattern which needs stitching together. If you want a quilted stocking then you'll need to buy some batting and use some more fabric of your choosing for the lining...and that's a lot more complicated than simply stitching two parts together!

Just lay the two pieces together with the design side facing inwards....pin it together and stitch round. If you want the top part to be nicely finished, then hem each section down before pinning and sewing.

ICame - I have the batting and lining fabric, too. The fabric isn't thick enough to be a stocking on it's own, it would rip far too easily (especially as it will be used by my DS!) so I need to do it properly.

I think I would quilt the two main pieces separately - don't cut them out accurately for this. Then I'd sew them wrong sides together around the edge, trim the seam small and then put a bias binding around to cover the seam. And then bias bind the top making a hanging loop at the same time.

In terms of the quilting, you probably want some stitching lines not more than roughly 5cm apart. You could just do a diamond pattern, or that wiggly free form quilting, or outline part of the design. Hand or machine? You do go through the whole "sandwich" of quilt, wadding and lining I believe. Chalk the lines on the fabric if it helps.

free motion quilting I found it hard to get the tension right for this as I hadn't done free motion sewing before but with practice it gets better!

fossil thank you for the link - love the wiggly free form quilting! Need to get my machine oiled before attempting that one though I think. Looks like it will take some practice so I guess I'd better get cracking.