That's right, I've been Christmas crafting away these past few days in the middle of summer! Normally this is something I would never do, but I foresee a very busy few months fast approaching and I decided it would be a good idea to get a jump start on making Christmas presents. For my sister and her family I am making vintage-inspired Christmas stockings, influenced by the one my grandma made for my mom when she was a little girl (and she still uses every year!) Now I don't have pictures of the mentioned stocking, but trust me it's really cute, with her name spelled out with shimmering star sequins and adorned with felt appliques.
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First step in stocking making: gather inspiration for handmade appliques. I went perusing through etsy and found
this cute pattern (notice that the top left corner of the pattern says "Not suitable for chubby girls"). If I had a little girl, I would buy this pattern, learn how to sew and make her this romper. But as I do not have a girl, I made the snowman applique instead.
I added some silver cording to his hat and glove, I affixed it with
Fabri-Tac and kept the edges from fraying with
Fray Check. I highly recommend both products, Fabri-Tac is the
only glue I have found that will actually work with felt and Fray Check really does keep frays in check.
Next up
this pattern featuring Santie Claus and Christmas bells.
I love the Colonel Sanders-esque mustache.
I thought the original appliques from the pattern were a little too stream-lined 1960's, and we're going for sparkling goodness here, so I added some beads, sequins, metallic pom poms and gold trim to the mix.
And finally there are the wreath and the candle appliques. I want to add a halo of gold sequins around the candle, just for some extra oomph! Now that the appliques are done, I just need to find some plain red flannel or felt stockings and some sequin stars. I am quite excited by this little project, but boy is it time consuming!
