My Family's Stockings

My first Christmas being married, my husband and I were poor, starving college students! I tried my best to carry on family Christmas traditions and Rob half begrudgingly went along with my antics so as not to ruffle our modest nest during the holiday season! One of the things I insisted  wanted to do was to have our own stockings, and when my search for some cheap and cute ones came up empty, making them was my next best option.

One December afternoon, I found myself at my aunts house who had a great sewing machine (I, at the time, did not) and she also had boxes of scrap material. The 2 of us put our heads together and came up with the idea that is pictured above.

It was fun sewing with my aunt, but at age 19, I was surely a novice and did not have much experience on the sewing machine! I was decently pleased with how they turned out, but thought that maybe the next year I would make some really great stockings that were even better!

The following year I was pregnant with Ethan and also on bedrest. With no other options or resources other than what I had at home, I made a stocking using the same technique as the ones I made previously, only this time using yellows and greens and stitching the name "Baby" at the top. (We never find out the sex of our babies, so I had to keep it unisex!) Our 3 little stockings hung that year all together and their sweet simplicity began to grow on me.

As you can see, our family has grown since that time and we now have 5 stockings-(6, actually,  if you count the "Baby" one that is only hung on the years when I have a little one in the oven!)  Here is a close-up:

The techinque is simple:

-Cut 2 red pieces of felt into the shape of a stocking. Mine and Rob's were actually those cheap 99 cent stockings- I just undid the seams.

-Cut scrap squares of coordinating fabric and pin with straight pins all over each side of the stocking.

- Sew around the entire edge of each scrap.

- Stitch your name at the top. (I used gingham print for all of the stockings which made it easy to cross-stitch our names)

-Sew up the sides of the stocking with your machine

- Add a rectangular tag for it to hang

- Add some floss around the edges to give it a more decorative look.

 ... and thats it!

It literally takes me an hour to make them- so easy! I like that each one is unique, but all look similar and I like the red felt showing a bit around the edges for some reason. They aren't super big (which is nice and saves money!) and they are just simple- I like simple, can you tell?!

My next baby will have orange or red colors if its a boy or purple or yellow colors if its a girl- see, I have got it all planned out!