Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Christmas Stockings: Creating Family Heirlooms

Stocking detail: the small dots are sequin indicators.
When my three children were born, my sister-in-law made personalized stockings for each of their first Christmases. These stockings (which incidently stood the test of time) were made from felt kits, lavishly decorated with sequins, pom-poms and ribbons and have become a happy and nostalgic part of our Christmas decor. When my first two children married, I decided to continue the tradition by making similar stockings for my son and daughter-in-law. Not a problem. The kits come with complete detailed instructions, all of the supplies including needles and can be done by hand.


Then happily came the grandchildren. Sewing  a stocking for the first, 5 years ago, didn't present a problem but the second, two years after was the beginning of my sorry backlog because by then my hours at work had changed and my sewing time became limited. Also, feeling guilty, I had decided to make one for my husband as well and two in one year was one too many.  They're really not hard to make but procrastination is sometimes my middle name. Then my daughter and son-in-law had twins!
My future project! Christmas 2015!


We have friends who are nice enough to invite us to their country home a couple of times a year  Our hostess is a knitter as are the other invited guests (and I'm not) so I decided to take along my stockings to work on as we gab, gossip and eat and eat and eat! My progress was slow (did I mention the wine?) but as this Christmas holiday approaches, I'm within sight of completing the last of the stockings (they're all sequin-ready) and as luck would have it, we're headed for the country this weekend. 


If you're looking for a project or to start a heirloom collection for your family, I recommend these stockings. The kits are available online (some are better than others and price is usually the indicator of quality) and you really don't have to be serious sewer. 


Not wanting to leave myself out, I purchased a very complicated "Nutcracker Suite' themed stocking but I am vowing not to start it until the grandchildren and husband stockings are completed. Some websites follow where the stocking can be purchased.  2015 or bust!



  • http://www.anitasarts.com/bucilla-needle-crafts-felt-applique-c-17_18.html

  • http://www.bucillachristmasstockingkits.org/

  • http://www.plaidcraftexpress.com/dept/Christmas+Stockings.aspx?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&keyword=g+felt+christmas+stocking+b&gclid=COC4nuCahqUCFYpa2god01dyPg

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