An Easter Stocking

Our daughter Tara got married in September. 

 

I have made stockings for all our kids.  And now I am making them for all their spouses.  They take about four months to finish.  I started in October.

 

I worked every day for several hours.  But it was not to be. 

I stopped working on the Santa part and used the graph to at least get Greg's name on the stocking.

 

Tara and Greg were the only "kids" coming here for Christmas.  Travis and Vanessa were busy having a baby for ME!  Trista had just come for the wedding and will be flying out to see the baby when she can get away.

 

So there was only one pitiful stocking on display.  I hung the semi-finished one up by the stretcher.  But how would Santa fill it, I wondered???

 

Santa is very clever and placed the stocking in front of the UNLIT fireplace and placed his donation behind the stocking.

Maybe I can finish it by Easter and start a new tradition.  Cadbury eggs and Peeps in a stocking!!

A Just In Time Stocking

We have a new son-in-law and he has agreed to come for Christmas.  So early last year I started on a hand made stocking for him.  Our kids and our daughter-in-law all have one that I made.  I am not an artist, but a crafter.  So I have to get a kit for the job.  My favorite kits were from Sunset and used crewel stitches, but they are no longer available, except on eBay for outrageous sums.

This one I found online, so I didn't get to see it up close.  It has a LOT of stiches.  Little tiny stitches.  Every square inch is covered in stitches put in by yours truly.  And most of them are in the right spot and perfectly done.  Better than 90%, which beats the current expectation on the Obamacare website!  (Insert smiley face emoticon of extreme cuteness so as to not offend anyone.)

 

I finished the main part a few weeks ago and then had to add all the details that really add to the picture.  And last came the name.  I traced the name from the supplied alphabet and tried to pin it to the stocking.  But the I couldn't see where I was placing the stitches.  They had to be in the right spot or it would be impossible to add the top stitching in the right spot and then it would be WRONG and BAD.  I took out a lot of stitches.

 

This stitch is called couching.  You take one needle with several strands of floss (A) and one with one strand (B).  Starting with A, you go up where you want to start the lettering and then use B to grab and stitch all along where you have marked for the letters to curve and bend.  My method was to go up at the start and down at the end and then put the A thread out of the way and then work with the B.  I kept A loose so I could adjust it to go along the lettering curves.  Where I had to do a long piece with no curves, I skipped the couching until I finished the rest of the letter and could remove the tracing paper and see the exact spot I needed.  A bit off is way off.  More stitches out and back in..  The name took big parts of three days. 

Then I decided to line it with satin.  I didn't want eager finger to rip out the prezzies from Santa and damage the exposed stitches. 

 

The stocking came with a felt back and for some reason I decided to line that side, too.  If I ever do another stocking like this one, I will only line the stitched side of the stocking.  I made a sandwich with the front and back facing and then added the satin with right sides facing and stitched along the edge of the finished piece. 

 

Trim and turn right side out according to the instructions.  Then you have to figure out how to hand stitch the lining along the edge of the stocking.  That took MORE time.

 

The hanger is easy.

 

You braid the yarn and knot it and attach it along the seam.  I think it looks great. 

 

It looks better than Trista's stocking.  I offered to make her another one.  But she likes hers.  Good.  I don't want to do this again any time soon.  Plus, hers is bigger and that means Santa has to put more things in her stocking.

 

Good thing the next son-in-law is a few years out.  I need a break.

Another Project

 

Rob.  Go away.  Don't look.  Spoiler Alert.  Danger Will Robinson!

I get the impression that Lee is not pleased when I take on another project when I have a bunch still not finished.  I have a quilt that is ready for quilting.  I am waiting until I get a new machine to finish that.  The craft room is currently full of the stained glass transom project, so I wouldn't be sewing even if I had a machine.  Too many glass slivers.  The stained glass is waiting until the order for flux and copper patina arrives so I can solder it.

Naturally I had to start a NEW project.  This one is SUPPOSED to be one I can work on when I am in bed watching TV.  But I need to start it in full light.

I am making a stocking for my favorite son-in-law.  Well, my only son-in-law, but my favorite so far!  He and Trista have promised to come to Christmas next year.  I have made all the kids and my daughter-in-law a stocking, so he's next.  My kids all have crewel stockings, but nobody make crewel patterns any more.  I did find old ones on EBay, but as much as he is my favorite, I am not paying hundreds of dollars for one.  You would think if people would pay hundreds for the old one, somebody would start re-issuing them, but not yet.  That's a good idea for when I win the lottery!

The pattern I chose is on fabric with wee tiny squares.  In the past I have made them where the pattern is printed on the fabric and then you get a code that shows which stitches go where.  This is just a blank canvas with lots of counting tee tiny squares.  That means there is a lot of taking out of stitches.  Because a lot of the stitches are cross stitched, that means taking out two stitches for each square you put in wrong.  You can see why this is a project best started in the light.

   

I have a collection of wooden frames from making crewel, needlepoint and cross stitch projects in years past. It is easier for me to mount (staple)  the whole thing on a wooden frame rather than using a hoop. This way I don't have to move it around and risk damaging the stocking. It does make it awkward in bed. And I have to get up off the bed and put it up high when I am done. It is too big to shove in a drawer.  It is not something I want the cats to play with. I am sure it will come away with multiple cat hairs no matter what I do!

This is the top half of the stocking and the pattern.

  

My plan is to get a good start so that future stitches are easier to locate.  Plus, I seem to have a bit of OCD ( I can hear my kids screaming, "A BIT!!!"), so once I start something I become obsessed with finishing it.  I have until Christmas, so it's not like there is a big rush or anything!

I like it because it has a old time, nostalgic flavor to it.  A kind of country feel.  My son-in-law is very much of a big city, grew up in London, kind of guy, so I hope he likes it.  He'd BETTER.