Christmas Stockings for people and dogs or whatever!

I wrote a Christmas stocking tutorial 18 years ago, and it holds up today. I share it again as it's the basis for what I'm doing now. I've learned a lot more about strip quilting and trims since then, but it's always good to have an idea of where something came from. Christmas Stocking Tutorial.  I tweak my methods often to adapt for the shape and type of materials. 

It started with a stocking for my daughter's dog, Dolly. You can't tell from this photo, but it's huge! It was the prototype. I drafted a bone pattern and then a second piece that was the bone without the top rounded parts. You can make a pattern, find one online, or purchase a commercial variety. It doesn't really matter except that it's in the shape of a bone. Do a quick Google search and you'll find plenty of patterns. 

After the initial enormous stocking, I got the fever and made three more, one for my son (who has a Beagle)

I use the shorter piece of the pattern (the front) for the strip quilted part. The back pattern piece is cut out of prequilted Christmas fabric. Cut that out and set it aside. Do not sew the two pieces together until you complete your design work on the smaller piece. 

Cut a piece of fabric (lining) and a piece of thin batting using the pattern for the top piece. Set the batting on the fabric with the batting face up.

Begin your strip quilting with 2" strips of fabrics of your choice. See the instructions for how to do that via the link above for the stocking tutorial. I used two dog print fabrics. 

When I had finished the strip quilting, I added the candy cane ribbon between the dog print fabric. 

Hem the top piece and covered the stitching with another piece of ribbon. You can finish this edge however you like. In this case, I used some of the candy cane bias tape to finish the edge. 

Remember the bigger piece of fabric, the whole bone that you cut out? Now you are going to use it. 

With the strip quilted piece face up, place it on what is now the back of your stocking. Pin the top to the back and take a quarter-inch seam to attach them. Trim off bits of ribbon, fabric, thread, etc., and now you have your stocking completed except for the bias binding.

I made my own bias tape. You can make yours using a method you like or purchase some double fold. 

I machine stitched one side of the bias tape, turned it to the back and folded it, then hand stitched the back. 

Lastly, add a hanger of your choice; I used ribbon. 

Dachshund stocking using a couple of Doxie fabric squares I had. The strip quilting in this case is horizontal and only on the bottom part of the bone. 

This one is for my son. I cut the top part of the bone out of Beagle fabric, added Christmas ribbon and rick-rack, added a "cuff" to the front piece (using a remnant of the candy cane ribbon), and bound the whole thing with dog paw bias tape.

What's fun is to do an internet search for the history of Christmas stockings. They have a legend, you know. I like these two the best:

Smithsonian Legend of the Christmas Stocking

and 

Love to Know's history of the stocking

Pet's gotta have a holiday too, right? 

Sewing goodies other than masks again (thought not done with masks!)

I guess it's a good sign that mask sales are down! (Can't wait for the vaccine to be injected into my arm!). I did, however, donate 35 masks to a group of educators yesterday. I've been donating masks all along and this donation made me feel particularly proud. The teachers are still teaching in the classroom, even during the pandemic. We need to be safe and keep others safe. Are you sewing masks? 

Here's what I'm sewing these days:

My daughter has been asking for a stocking for her dog, who will be celebrating her first Christmas together this year. I drafted a pattern and made a prototype for her. It's a large bone shape on the back and 3/4 of a bone shape on the front. I have to revising to do to the pattern, but not bad for a first effort. I had all the fabrics on hand (the paw fabrics are from my mask making stash) and added the pre-quilted back and red/white stripe ribbon to add some Christmas flare. I like it and can't wait to try more.

I've been working on these particular placemats for a long, long time. I began making them some time ago and ran out of the corn fabric used for strips on the front. When I had some breathing room, I started searching for more of it. I finally found it at Colorado Creations Quilting. They were pretty marvelous to work with and are going to show these off in their newsletter. I sew 2" strips of denim end to end and wrap it into a roll, then it gets used in this kind of project. I love the way the denim colors flow together and add some contrast and upcycling at the same time. 

You can make strip quilted placemats with denim, corn fabric, or whatever you want using this tutorial I wrote way back when - PLACEMAT TUTORIAL

My newest thing is another baby quilt. I decided on a Grandmother's Flower Garden pattern because I wanted it to be hand sewn. I always have a hand sewing project going. It's not easy for me to watch TV without one! I found the rainbow color bandanna fabrics, had the center fabric, and the path that will be going around the flowers is a black bandanna fabric. I want the rainbow colors to stand out and I believe they will.

What are you sewing? I'll keep sewing masks until they're no longer needed. I've just about worn out my 8-1/2" ruler and rotary cutter, not to mention the cutting mat. I'll be glad to retire them all. Let's hope the vaccine does its thing. 

Merry Christmas to you all and as always, keep stitching!

Christmas Stockings - You can make them too!

I'm working on a couple of Christmas stockings and remembered I have a tutorial so you can make them too. I've refined my method over the years (the tutorial was written in 2002!), but the concepts and processes are the same. I have names to put on these and then backs, but I do like the clean strip quilting on the fronts. 

If you want to make a Christmas stocking, click here for the directions. They're super easy and a great starter project. There are no rules. Do what you can do and make it your own. 

If you have questions, ask them in the comments section and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. 

Have fun and I'd love to see your own results. 

Happy New Year my sewing & nonsewing friends

I've been a sewing fool, it seems; so much so, that I haven't taken time to share it with you!

Christmas meant making Christmas stockings, a lot of them, and other stuff. Here's a sampling of what's been whirring in my machine and by hand. So easy, all of it, and fun to look at and give as gifts.

After Christmas, I took the Christmas mug mats/coasters up and the table looked empty. I remembered my stash of yellow and blue fabrics, but them into 1-1/2" strips, and created log cabin mug mats for myself. The binding is some left over blue bias tape and the back is made from a scrap fabric. I still have some leftovers of the blue and yellow fabric. Who knows where it will end up next. These are a little over 4" in circumference. 

Ooops, that's not sewing! A couple of plates of cookies found their way into my camera. How'd that happen? I make a butter cookie with my mother's icing - confectioner's sugar, lemon juice, food coloring, and just enough water to make it spreadable. It hardens, but does not get crunchy like royal icing. They're so good! My kids said this year I used weird colors. They're right! 

I saw a Christmas tree skirt with dachshund silhouettes on it. That sent me on a hunt for a German shepherd dog silhouette. I found a coloring page that was just right. I traced that onto Wonder Under, changing a bit here and there, fused the Wonder Under to Christmas fabric, and cut them out. They, then, were fused to an oval of complementary Christmas fabric, satin stitched, and backed with a fun cheater quilt Christmas fabric. I made the bias binding out of a bit of this and that and voila, placemats. 

Joanna is a friend of my daughter's. She painted an amazing portrait of our last three dogs. It was my present to my husband this year. I figured she deserved a tip, so Christmas stocking it was!

She's an avid archer, so I printed a photo she had posted on Facebook onto fabric. Then I worked around it with some candy cane fabric strips. 

When I think of archery, for some reason, I think of fringe. I had happened to have some red suede fringe, so there you go - the finishing touch. 

Oh yeah, a few potholders too. The Redskins one was a gift. They still don't play so well, but she's a fan.  

As usual, it's backed with denim patchwork. Love my recycled denim! Plus, it does add a layer of protection along with the InsulBrite.

I had some Steelers scraps, so why not? Same thing. Denim backing. There's a fan out there somewhere that wants this.

My daughter asked if I could make a stocking for her boyfriend. She sent me a picture of his dog Photoshopped into a Christmas scene, and as with Joanna's stocking, I printed it on fabric and worked around it with a variety of strips that I've been collecting. The strips were all made of 2" squares and cut down to 1-1/2" wide. It was fun to arrange them. Here is it half done. You can see my blue marks where I was aiming to keep things on point. I don't always use marking, but I recommend it for beginners. I'm an old timer, but still wanted them for precision.

This photo is of the front of it before it was attached to the quilted backing. I'll have a photo of that some day! 

Overall, my year-end sewing has been fun. There's more, but I haven't taken pictures yet. Where I used to be a potholder crazy person, now I'm a Christmas stocking crazy person. So much color, so fun, great to give away or sell, and the make me smile.

My one resolution in regard to sewing is the same as last year - Sew a little bit every day and continue to destash the sewing room.

Happy pins and needles to  you. Sew on!

Sewing and finishing stuff! (And always more to come)

I finished the button mannequin project. I'll have photos when the sun is bright enough to get a good view. I coated it with a concrete-like paint and finished it with a vinyl coating. I actually like it a lot. More to come!

I've lost a considerable amount of weight and need clothes. I don't want to buy them, so am doing a buy-a-few/sew-a-few combo. For the summer, I had bought a few pair of shorts, some solid tees, and made a number of skirts. I want to share one of the skirt sets as it's a recycle project, where I took a business suit and turned it into summer casual. More to come here too!

I've been working on tote bags too, like this one:

It has a recycled blue jean pocket in the lining and the lining itself is the large M&M fabric. All my M&M ribbon is finally gone!

I've cut out an open weave cardigan and am almost finished with a caftan that I'll throw on in the mornings. I want to make two of them. Next comes a couple pair of pants for the fall and winter. I plan on making several cardigans to go with the pants I have and use the tees from this summer underneath. I have a ton of receiving blankets that I use inside Christmas stockings and placemats, and they'd make the best liner for a woven fabric cardigan. I did buy two pair of jeans at Walmart. A girl's gotta have jeans, right? I'll be ready for the colder weather in nothing flat! More to come!

I'm sewing just about every day - how about you?

Updated an older post - Christmas Stockings (teachers and otherwise)

Hey - lookie here - I updated the Christmas Stocking post with teacher's stockings and a link to how to make strip quilted stockings. Never to early to start making this year's batch!

A bit of this and that

• The former brother-in-law's quilt is done except some of the hand work on the binding.
• The bee potholders are done, but I need to take pictures.
• I put Halloween placemats on eBay (user name croakerwoods) and am going to put up some Virginia Tech Christmas stockings. 
• I'm finishing three sets of 4 Halloween Hunk/rainbow reversible placemats. I'll put them on eBay and Etsy as well. 
• My daughter and a friend want Halloween Hunk tote bags. So, I'll be crafting them soon. If you don't know what Halloween Hunk fabric is, just Google it or take a peek on eBay (lots of people have it for sale). 
• These placemats are the project I must finish before I move on. The bee potholders were the prior one. The quilt, well, it's been a work in progress, a UFO, for years, so finishing it now is just amazing.

Photos to come!

What are YOU sewing?

Digging Groundhog Day

Sounds like Phil saw his shadow. Know what that means? It means six more weeks of sewing. I know I'm going to follow that edict! How about you?

I sold a few items on Etsy and a few on eBay, but mostly, I'm sewing items to sell in the fall. I'm on a Halloween kick now that I have Christmas stockings made and ready for next year. The final one is made of Smurf fabric and is embellished with a few Christmas buttons and some trim.

There's snow on the ground, my work day is almost done, and I'm going to sew today. I'm feeling the urge to feed my creative beast and that's one way to do it.

Ties for stockings take 2

Ah, Christmas stockings. Can you ever make enough? I finished three more which I made out of neckties. Wow, that stuff is hard to sew. The harvested fabrics were silky and on the bias. Two-punch - stretchy and slippery! They turned out mighty nice, though! As mentioned below, I spent an evening taking the ties apart and learning about them. I pressed them and used the strip quilting technique that I've mentioned before. I covered the seam lines with gold rick-rack, the cuffs were made of a fluffy terry fabric, and the backs were created with simple Christmas fabric.

On a side note, I put out a "wanted" on my local Freecycle group for Christmas fabrics and score! Another Freecycler had a bag of Christmas fabrics she had been sitting on and realized she'd never use. Interestingly, several of them matched fabrics I've had for years, so they're not all modern prints. They are also the smaller prints that I tend to gravitate towards. What a great find.

I'll post pictures of the stockings made of ties at a later date. Right now, I have several Virginia Tech Christmas stockings to sew! Like I said, can you ever make enough? I'm putting them up on Etsy as I finish them. It's more about the making than the selling, though.

Update - here are some pictures of the three I finished.