Christmas Stockings

Last year, a few weeks before Christmas I decided I wanted to make stockings for our little family of three. So I went to the local quilt shop and bought some fabric to make them. Then I realized I needed a lining for the inside and I wanted to use muslin because it's cheaper and no one is really going to be looking at the inside anyway. Well, I guess that was my big downfall because I never got the muslin before Christmas, so they didn't get done last year.

This last summer I had bought muslin for another project so I pulled out the stockings again. And they sat on my ironing board for months. Again.

Finally right after Thanksgiving I started to finish Little Bub's stocking. I figured his was the most important anyway and if I didn't finish the other ones, oh well.

I have a great quilting book by Eleanor Burns called Christmas at Bear Paw Ranch that had a great stocking pattern in it. She makes crazy striped stocking, but I wanted mine to be solid with an applique, but here is a link to the pattern for free online (look for strip stocking). I just used her steps and the outline shape of the stocking. Warning: They are pretty big stockings!

For Little Bub's stocking I made a gingerbread man applique. I actually drew the gingerbread man!  For Daddy's stocking, I drew an elf (at his request) based on the elves from the Rudolph movie. For myself, I used cookie cutters and traced snowflakes onto paper. I used Heat 'N Bond, buttons and embroidery floss for all of the stockings.

 

And in case you're wondering, like most everyone else, I do have some fabric for stockings for any future children. No misfits in this house!

Odds and Ends

 A few more things I made for Little Bub's birthday this year: a quilt square and a crocheted caterpillar hat.
A while back I bought the book Art to Heart: Count On It at the local quilt shop to brush up on practicing my quilting skills on little small projects. It has a square hanging for each month and I've finished almost all of them! There was also an option to make a cupcake one for birthdays. I figured this would be a nice thing for Little Bub to have every year at his party. I added a little caterpillar with some velcro that can be taken off for next year's party.

 

 

Time for a true confession: I may have an obsession with crocheting hats for Little Bub to wear for every holiday and/or season. Seriously, I will have to post a picture of my ever-growing pile. I actually taught myself to crochet specifically to make hats for my baby before he was born. I certainly wasn't going to buy any crocheted hat for $15 plus when yarn is so cheap! (If you haven't noticed by now, this is an ongoing theme of all my projects!).

 

When I first started crocheting, I bought my first pattern from Sunset Crochet on Etsy. Her pattern was easy enough for a beginner like me, so that's who most of my patterns come from. She has a pattern for a Very Hungry Caterpillar hat and cocoon set for a newborn size. I just made a larger version of that hat for my soon-to-be one year old. (I also made the newborn size and cocoon for future use!). Little Bub won't be wearing this hat on the day of party probably because he'll be indoors, but it was perfect for his one year photos!