Guess who won the battle of the stockings

Posted by: Paulette

I told you yesterday about how my almost 5 year old daughter, Katie was throwing a fit about me wanting to make new stockings. After going back and forth between two arguments:
The house is the kids, not just mine
and
I want a cleaner more grown-up look
The second argument won. I made the stockings assembly line style, and after completing the first one, Katie asked where hers was. I let her switch them out on the mantle. She felt like she was Mommy's helper and it seemed to appease her. That was until it was time to put the other ones in the donation pile. And then I remembered that we have a family of 6 coming to visit for Christmas. We could use those stockings for them!
Problem solved.

 

 

 There are a ton of how to make a Christmas stocking tutorials available on the net, so, I'll just tell you a little of what I did. 
Edited to add link of tutorial
The girl's stockings have pleated cuffs, and the boy's stockings have welting. I used canvas drop cloth fabric. It's becoming my favorite to work with. Once it's washed, it's not stiff anymore. And I love the color.
The cuff of the stockings is made from a old bed skirt that I cut apart. I still have a ton of fabric, and all of the lace edging for other projects. I think this one got caught in the vacuum and ended up with black stains from the belt.
The painted on initials is done with acrylic paint, mixed with fabric medium. I used a fine line brush to fill in the outline that I'd made with a pencil. I put the letter I wanted under the white fabric and was able to see through to trace. The bells are strung onto red ribbon and the then sewn with a bow over the top to the top of the stocking.

 

I'm not very happy with how the script turned out. What is it they say, and optimist writes upward and a pessimist writes in a down slant? I guess I'm an optimist.
Remember the doors I painted with chalkboard paint this Fall, that were from my entertainment center? There they are, put to good use.

 

This was the very first Christmas present I ever gave Dave. We weren't even sure we'd be able to afford a Christmas tree that year. This nativity holds a special place in our family history, and the kids know they're in BIG trouble if they touch it. It lasted 13 years without any real damage. Sophia, 3years, took down some pieces to play with while I wasn't paying attention and broke some of them. thank God for super glue!