Want to Stitch a Christmas Stocking?

Ok, you finally have taken the plunge and bought a stocking canvas during the big Christmas sales at your favorite shop.  Now what?  KC Needlepoint has a few tips to get you started.

https://www.kcneedlepoint.com/blogs/news/stitch-a-stocking-in-2024-with-our-help

If this isn't enough help, perhaps Maureen Guiffre's book, True Confessions of a Stocking Stitcher, will help.  (Shop around for the best price. I went with this link because of the brief description of what's inside the book plus photos of the contents.)

https://nimbleneedlenj.com/product/stocking-stitcher/

This link lists the table of contents.

https://stitch-stash.com/products/true-confessions-of-a-stocking-stitcher-book

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow

Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com

and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com

© Copyright January 4, 2024 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Victoria Classics Holiday Bliss Special Edition

Thanks to Patti P's posting on Facebook, I discovered the Victoria magazine special Christmas edition for 2013 has a three page spread on needlepoint stockings, featuring Strictly Christmas stockings with the help of Needleworks of Birmingham.  This is a special edition so if you subscribe you won't get this issue.  Hopefully you have a local bookstore with a copy or you can order online.
http://www.booksamillion.com/product?mid=0002023769

http://www.gritsnp.com/Needleworks/Welcome.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
@ Copyright 2013 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

What's Left After the Swearing Stops

I didn't mention turning this stocking inside out and discovering I'd sewed the lining and stocking together wrong, having to turn it back inside/out and do that again, having to rip out the side seams for the little Nordic Snowman stocking twice, sticking myself with a straight pin, spending an hour trying to attach the red cord trim, or saying all those swear words because I hate finishing.  (Although I do.)

I mentioned all that to show you that no matter how frustrating you find finishing--and I do--working through the process gives you a lovely little piece that you can be proud of and saves the money I'd rather put toward threads and beads and ribbons for the next needlepoint piece.

So here is Melissa Shirley's Nordic Snowman, made up into a stocking and stuffed with tissue paper to hold its shape until the little mini sock arrives at the new owner's home for the holidays.

Hope you enjoyed this needlepoint adventure!

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

The Nordic Snowman Is Done

The Nordic Snowman is done!  Hurrah!  My next step will be to assemble him into a stocking.  Stockings are not difficult although turning small stockings right side out (they are often assembled with the wrong side facing out) can be painful.  I have some nice red velvet for the back side and some pretty blue silk moire for the lining.  I'll pick up trim today as all the trim I have is a bit too fat for this small stocking.

When I finish a piece, I always thinks about what I learned, what went particularly well and what I wish I'd done better.  I certainly learned about how to mix various white threads in a piece in this one!  I also was very careful about the threads on the back side since I didn't want any of the ends on the back side causing shadows behind the white areas.  I stitched most of the whites first and was careful to not put starting knots or weave ending threads in bright colors too close to white areas.  This seems to have worked out well.  I am particularly happy with the fur trim on his stocking although I don't like the fur ball at the base of his stocking as well.  It is a little too prominent.  Next time I might try using a thinner thread than Faux Fur for French knots fur.  I also am very happy with the red bow around the stocking.  There I mixed Kreinik's red holographic thread with a regular dark red Kreinik metallic for shading and it looks very nice.  The new Kreinik holographic thread is very shiny and in the right place, it looks terrific.  It also holds up well with other metallic threads so you can use it for jewels in a gold crown and not have the jewels be overwhelmed by the gold setting.  Holographic Fyreworks from Rainbow Gallery is a similar thread but it only comes in one width so I would choose Kreinik holographic when I could, just because it has the flexibility of a stitcher being able to choose thread sizes.

Hope you have enjoyed watching the Nordic snowman evolve.  After I tackle finishing the stocking and doing some other finishing that I've let pile up, I'll be back working on the next quilt block in Stars for a New Millennium.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Faux Fur and Fake Stars

Last night I finished the bits of violet on the Snowman's clothes and the packages on the ground, then decided to tackle the two remaining areas--the fur trim on his stocking cap and the stars in the sky.

Above you see my materials--Rainbow Gallery's Faux Fur and some metal bits I got at the bead store.  I think the decorative metal bits are prefect for a little boy's stocking.  If this stocking had been intended for a girl, I probably would have used tiny glass pearls or perhaps blue crystals, but this stocking is for a rowdy boy.  Metal studs seemed to be something he'd like better.  They make good snowflakes or stars, whichever you think the white dots on the blue sky are.

I attached them with the same Burmilana I used for the background of diagonal mosaic stitches, coming up in the center and going back down around the outside edge.  Hopefully the edges don't abrade the thread and they all fall off before the kid graduates from high school!

If you want to look for similar metal bits online, I believe these are bead caps, intended to be used as the top/bottom of a large bead in jewelry.  They may be spacers instead, which are metal bits that go between beads in jewelry.  They were fifteen cents each, not too bad for bead stuff.

The Faux Fur is from my stash.  It is 85% acrylic and 15% wool.  It's a rather thick thread compared to many of the fake fur ones available.  I'd say it is around the diameter of #8 perle or perhaps as fat as a full strand of DMC cotton floss.  I used it to fill the center of the stocking cap brim with French knots, then along the edge where the original design had tendrils of white sticking up, I came up close to a French knot, rotated the thread and needle until I had a tightly twisted thread that started to double on itself, then went down at the tip of a tendril.  This gives a twisted single stitch that looks similar to the French knots but is not round.  In the photo above you can see the finished brim and how I started the furry ball at the top of the stocking cap with French knots clustered in the middle. I'll probably do more twisted tendrils around the edge of the ball than I did on the brim.  But I am not sure about that yet.

Once the ball is done, I think this piece is finished. I'll need to carefully check it for missed stitches, then pull out my stocking finishing instructions and see if I can make this up into a real Christmas stocking.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

A Nose and A Name

I've been busy working on the reds on this design, which got me started on the red top of the stocking.  I decided to put the recipient's name there using red holographic Kreinik and stitch the background around the name with my bright red Trio.  In this case I want the name to be rather subtle, not stand out.  Since Christmas items often are seen in artificial light, I think the shine of the holographic Kreinik will show the name off in the small stocking's natural setting, which is on a Christmas tree among many other ornaments and lights.

The first thing I need is an alphabet, so I started browsing Carrie Pieniozek's site where she has many free charted alphabets.
http://www.freepatternsonline.com/xscharts/alphabets.htm

The red top is 5 threads high, so I need a small alphabet.  I can add to the top of the stocking but since I don't want to make the name a focus of the stocking so I don't want to add much height.  That means I'm looking for letters that are 5-7 stitches tall.  After a little browsing, I settled on alphabet #33.
http://www.freepatternsonline.com/xscharts/page/abc33.htm

That's it stitched in the photo at the top of this article. You'll notice that it is up over the red area quite a bit.  That's my test stitching.  I count things out carefully to place the letters but I've discovered that letters often don't look exactly right even if they are, because the letters give the illusion of space around them.    The E and the N are the same width but the E looks wider because of its horizontal orientation and the fact that the base is longer than the top.  You have to adjust for those things and eventually I did.  By the way, it is in two shades of red as I was using up leftover plies of Trio and since this is a test, it doesn't matter what colors I use.

As I transferred each letter to the red band at the stocking's top, I made the A one stitch longer on the left side to make everything look right.  Alphabet #33 is 6 stitches high, so I increased the height of the red area from five threads to eight so there is a red row above and below the six rows of lettering.  As I work the real letters, I pull the letters above that are my pattern out to make room.

As you can see, I've also stitched in the snowman's carrot nose.  It is simply orange Medici wool.  I stitched two horizontal long stitches down the length of the nose, then did a row of straight vertical stitches across the orange area.  Then I did a slightly slanted vertical row.  Finally I ended this with another row of straight vertical stitches.  I could have done a fancier nose but I think this looks exactly the way I want it to.

Here's a photo of my progress to date.  I have to finish stitching the name and the violet areas, put brown stems on the apples, then tackle the stars in the sky and the fur trim on the stocking cap to finish.  Since I'm so close to getting this done, I need to rummage in the stash to see if I have red velvet for finishing.

Jane, sighing at the thought of finishing, then waving to KM as I exit

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Bell, Bird and Fringe

So far I've stitched the bell, the toy bird and the fringe and buttons along the edge of Santa's jacket and scarf.  I've also done two of the three greens on the leaves and jacket and scarf.  It seems to make sense to pick groups of colors (I'll do the yellows next) and finish all the bits of that color in each stitching session.

Because I'm varying the thread texture, not the stitches, I'm trying to draw attention to certain areas by the threads used there.  For instance, the bell is stitched with Silk Lame Braid, which is a twisted silk that has a thread of metallic mixed in.
http://www.rainbowgallery.com/detail.cfm?ID=1225

I used bright yellow for the bell, then used orange and lime for the bell decoration across the middle.   The lime doesn't scream LIME on the design because it is similar in intensity to the yellow.  Both are medium shades, which means they are difficult for the eye to pick out and separate.  The dark orange stands out nicely against the other two colors, however.  The same orange Silk Lame Braid is used on the two packages at the snowman's feet on the left.  But the yellow is different.  I used a wool-silk blend there (I think it is Felicity's Garden but there is no label so I can't be sure).  This means the packages aren't as shiny as the bell since only one thread there has metallic in it.

For the bird, the buttons along the edge of the jacket, and the long fringe at the bottom of the scarf, I switched to Kreinik's new holographic threads.  These threads scream Look At Me! so they are perfect for areas I want to draw the eye to, like the toy bird and the long fringe and the buttons.  Actually, I planned where I wanted to use this thread carefully, distributing areas of holographic metallic around the canvas.  The largest concentration is at the bird, but I also plan to stitch the red bow on the package the snowman carries in this thread.  My only problem is that Kreinik holographic only comes in one shade of red (And there is no holographic pink--What were you guys thinking?!!?) so I'll have to do the dark red in another red metallic or use the purple holographic thread.  If you look at the buttons along the hem of the jacket, a few are purple, not red.  This is how the canvas is painted and I do like the effect.  I just have to decide whether this looks like a shadow or whether I have to use dark red instead.  Decisions, decisions!
http://www.needleworkdiscount.com/kreinikholographic

The greens in the leaves are all J. L. Walsh's silk/wool blend.  This is a luxurious thread that divides into five plies.  It is no longer being made, sadly, but it is gorgeous.  Some of my skeins are solid colors, some are subtle overdyes.  I used three shades of green for the leaves.  The dark green blocks of color on the jacket and scarf are all JL Walsh, too.  But the lime green is Impressions. I happened to have the perfect shades of lime in that thread.  Impressions is also half silk and half wool but it is a bit thicker in dimension than one ply of the JL Walsh silk/wool.  I love Impressions and use it often.  The thread looks more like wool than silk but a wool that has the sheen of silk. I plan to do as much of the snowman's jacket and scarf as I can in Impressions with some help from JL Walsh's silk/wool blend to fill in with colors.  I may use some Felicity's Garden also.
http://www.caron-net.com/threads.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

I'll Stitch Background While You Head Over There

I finally finished the blue sky behind the snowman yesterday.  I like how it looks, with the open stitch adding depth and texture behind the snowman.  I will add the white snowflakes later on.  I think I will wait until more of the piece is stitched before I decide between beads or metallic threads for the flakes floating down around the snowman and his Christmas presents.  I think he's walking across the snow to deliver presents to his friends, don't you?

Since nothing is more boring than looking at background, I should point out that the length of his stocking cap is stitched.  The white stripes are done with Impressions and the gray highlights are Medici wool.  These two threads are similar in diameter and both are fuzzy so they look good together.  The red stripes are done with two shades of Trio.  I separated the Trio into three strands and stitched with just one of them.  I wanted something close to the diameter of Impressions and Medici if possible.  Trio is a little fatter but I pulled my tent stitches taut which helped them look similar to the white stripes.

While I debate which section to work on next, I have some goodies for you to see.  TNNA has changed their World of Needlepoint site.  Now it has profiles of various designers and shops, and also a series of photos of finished pieces to admire.  Here are the photos of finished projects.  See the little Info rectangle below the photo at the left?  Click on that for more information, usually the designer and sometimes the stitcher and finisher.  Click on Featured Artist or Featured Shop to read all about the folks who cater to our needle needs.
http://www.worldofneedlepoint.com/finishedwork.html

Jan Sprague has added tips to her Stitchlady's Adventures blog.   I've never heard of keeping a sharp needle handy for tying off.  How clever!
http://stitchlady.wordpress.com/tips-hints-and-fun-info/

Finally, if you are from Michigan, you have to go look at Peacock Alley's Michigan Memories club.  Each canvas is shaped like the state of Michigan but within its borders are fun activities that you can do there.  It is an unusual monthly club but one that is sure to be a big hit for Michigan stitchers.  If you can't decide, visit the second link for more Michigan-themed canvases.  Those are not part of the series but they celebrate Michigan also.  Pat, this is for you!
http://www.peacockalleyneedlepoint.com/Peacock_Alley_Needlepoint/Michigan_Memories_-_Canvases.html

http://www.peacockalleyneedlepoint.com/Peacock_Alley_Needlepoint/Michigan_Mojo.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Exactly How Many Whites Are There?

Remember how I said yesterday this piece was going to be challenging because of all the color and pattern in it?  I've actually found another challenge is going to be all the white in it.  Take a good look at the photo of the plain canvas above and start counting the white areas.

The snowman's body and face are white, as are the furry rim, half the stripes and the ball at the end of his stocking cap.  He stands in white snow.

There are white dots on his scarf, the toy bird and the package he holds in his mittens.  There are also white snowflakes falling in the sky behind him.

I'm going to have to either use the same thread in all these places or find the same shade of white in a variety of threads to use for fuzzy fur, icy snowflakes, raised polka dots, knitted scarves, and snowmen and snow on the ground.  Looking at the large variety of white items, all of which should be different textures, I think I need to use a variety of threads for the various white areas.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Needed: Black Paint

I have been busy putting the trick or treaters stocking from Squigee together. The photos show my progress, and also why I need black paint! I have some black spray paint that I'll use on the little support later on today. Hopefully it'll be dry enough for a final photo tomorrow.

The back side is darker than in the photo but I adjusted the color so you could easily see the purple satin through the net overlay with all the orange fuzzy shapes and words.

The front is angled because I discovered that setting the stocking on the peg at a 90 degree angle overbalanced it and it toppled over. Can't have the kids lying on their sides! Now that I'm used to it, I think it's the perfect angle for viewing this piece. Most stockings are designed to be seen hung from a top corner like traditional Christmas socks, after all.

The next step is to add the fuzzy trim all around the perimeter while the black paint dries on the support.

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Trick or Treaters Stocking Finishing Supplies

The photo you see above shows all the finishing supplies I'll need for the Squiggee trick or treaters stocking. I have two fabrics, a purple satin and a thin novelty fabric that has orange fuzzy Halloween motifs on netting. I plan to layer the two fabrics on the back side of the stocking. Then I will twist the orange and the purple ThreadworX threads together to make a cord to go around the edge of the stocking. I thought about including some of the green I used for the fright wig but I think three colors are a bit much since including the green might mute the effect of all that green spiky hair. By the way, I won't make a traditional twisted cord from my two threads. That would trap too much of the fuzzy stuff. I'll just twist them together in my hand, stitch them down, and then use the blunt end of my needle to gently comb and fluff the thread to get as much of the ends to stand out as possible. Here's the ThreadworX website with the Legacy Collection thread colors, just in case you are tempted....

http://threadworx.com/product.php?catid=5&catName=The%20Legacy%20Collection

If you look carefully at the photo, you'll see the paper cutout I did from the color copy of my canvas. I always make a color copy (and often several black and white copies) of my projects. You can cut out the shape to aid finishing, you can see where things you've stitched over go when you are ready to add them, and it's just a good reminder of where the plain canvas started before you got your grubby little paws on it and went to town!

I used the paper pattern to cut out the quilting template you see as the clear stocking shape next to the pattern. I'd never heard of quilting template until Summer Truswell kindly told me about it. (When a superb professional finisher gives you tips--listen and listen hard!) This stuff comes in sheets of clear plastic about the size of an extra large place mat for $2 or so. You can buy it with a grid of what looks like one inch squares on it also, but that costs twice as much and I didn't need that here. Cut it with scissors to shape and you have the perfect lightweight stiffener to put inside ornaments. You can see a photo (next to last on this page) of the gridded and the plain with a pattern drawn on it at this website.

http://www.fabriclandwest.com/quilters%20corner/quilting_tools.htm

The last thing in the photo is two wooden dolls from the crafts emporium. They are in the wooden forms section, the place where you buy plain wooden letters to paint and put on a child's door. I could have bought wooden dowels and a wooden base and mounted the stocking on a stick but I decided I wanted to try something a bit different. I plan to take one of the dolls and insert it in the base of the stocking so that it will rest on a desk without any visible means of support. This means the stocking will be finished inside in the opposite way of most Christmas (or any other holiday) stockings. Normally, there's an opening in the top but my trick or treaters stocking will not open to hold candy corn. Instead, there will be a space in the base to insert the wooden support. I will leave it open so that when Halloween is over, the little wooden form can be removed and the stocking laid flat in a drawer until October 31st rolls around again.

Now all I need is to sit down and attempt to put this all together. If we could have a moment of silence, please!

[drumroll]

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Halloween Trick or Treaters Done

The stitching on the little Halloween stocking is done. The buttons were the last bit I needed to add before starting to hunt for the right fabric for the back side. Buttons are attached in many different ways, depending on how they were made. You've all seen buttons on men's dress shirts with the two (or four) little holes that you stitch through to attach them. The buttons that Squiggee included with the canvas are not like those. Working left to right, the cat's head button is flat and thick with a hole drilled through the middle. It was easy to attach with a doubled thread in one side and out the other. The pink skull bead has a shank. I stitched it from the back four times, each stitch slanting in a different / \ _ | direction to try and hold it steady. But this bead will tilt here and there since I did not make a hole in the canvas and push the shank through to the back side. The last bead is the brass moon face which has a loop at the top like a charm. It was easy to attach but it will sway from side to side slightly.

Hope you enjoy the canvas. Many thanks to Squiggee herself for designing something so quick and fun.

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Fright Wig Finished, Claw Added

Here's a photo of the Trick or Treaters stocking from Squiggee with the fright wig all done and combed, and the claw hand added to the middle figure. The "hand" is just beading wire twisted to resemble a bony skeleton hand. One end was poked through the canvas and it was tied down on the back, then I used two small stitches to secure the fingers on the front. It took me a lot longer to explain how the wig and claw were done than to actually add them to the stocking!

In this photo I've added a row of orange beads to the top of the stocking. Squiggee herself showed the beads in a row along the bottom of the stocking top but due to the finishing I plan, I want them at the top.

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

The Fright Wig

The photo on the left shows the fright wig underway. I happened to have two brands of fuzzy threads in my stash I thought might be perfect for the wig of the right hand trick or treater. One used to be called Viola when it was distributed by SharonG but I believe the new name is VaVoom. It's a soft hair-like thread that is very thin and delicate. In the photo below it is the purple thread in the plastic bag and in the stitched samples. It is distributed by dede Odgen now. The other is less soft and more plastic. It used to be called Charleston when the defunct Needle Necessities sold it. Now it is called The Legacy Collection and comes from ThreadWorX. It's the skein of green you see in the photo below.

Here's a link to information about VaVoom.

http://www.needleartworks.com/dsgnr/deo/deo9.htm

And here is one for The Legacy Collection. My skein of green is color #606 Kelly Green.
http://www.threadworx.com/product.php?catid=5&catName=The%20Legacy%20Collection

Even though the black VaVoom is soft like cashmere and looks like long hair and the green looks like a plastic feather boa, they are stitched the same way--in long stitches. The stitched sample you see uses dark purple VaVoom and fancy stitches to show what these threads can do. The stitching is by my dear friend Penny Evans who test drove Viola for me 4-5 years back. Thanks, Penny!

I decided to use the ThreadWorX green instead of the Viola purple since I thought the green would stand out against the purple background of the stocking and the purple robe next to it better. This thread comes in precut yard lengths, so I pulled one out carefully from the skein and cut it in half to have an easy-to-use 18 inch length. Then I used a number 18 needle so that there was plenty of room in the eye for the thread. My canvas is 14 count, by the way, so even the holes are large enough for this thread.

If you look at the top photo again, you'll see that I first stitched three straight lines spaced across the roughly fan shape of the wig. This divides the area into 4 pie-shaped wedges. Then I stitched straight stitches across one wedge at a time, working from left to right. You can work from right to left--this doesn't matter--but I think it helps to distribute the thread evenly to work a section at a time. You can work one half if you want, but I preferred to divide the wig into four areas.

The little plastic hairs that stick out of the central core (look at the green thread in the needle on the left side of the top photo) get mashed down in stitching. One you have totally finished the area in this thread, take your needle and gently stroke it a few times in the opposite direction you want the hairs to point. Then stroke it many times (gently!) in the direction the hairs should point. This gentle petting motion will pull the hairs out from under the long stitches and make it fuzzy.

I'll need to pet the hairs again occasionally as I add other attachments and do the finishing. They do get matted down or point the wrong way after handling. But you'll get the fright wig effect very quickly and easily using either of these threads.

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Halloween Cuff Done

I managed to finish the cuff of the Trick or Treaters stocking last night. Note that I stitched a row of tent stitches all across the top in the colors of each stripe. That will help in finishing. There's a row of tent stitches all around the perimeter of the stocking as well.

Here's the stitch I used for the rows, courtesy of Carole Lake's Stitch of the Month series for ANG in 2002. It has many names but Carole calls it "braided knitting" so I will also. I find it makes a lovely narrow border as well as very nice stripes on the stocking's top edge.

http://www.needlepoint.org/StitchOfTheMonth/2002/Apr.php

I made sure I held the threads tight as I moved from one long narrow cross stitch to the next, particularly when I was doing the orange and orange/red stitches with the Panache. It's well behaved as nylon threads go but I was taking no chances.

If you look at the photo, you'll see I still need to stitch the lime green fright wig, do something for the claw hand of the middle figure (the painted version of which is covered by stitches now, so look at the model photo in the side column to see how it looked when Squiggee painted it), and attach the buttons that are the masks of the children.

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Margaret Speaks

Yesterday Margaret wrote:

"I am waiting to see how you stitch the top orange and purple stripes. Will it be a bulky overturned knitted sock top or a spangle dangle banner effect? Also how are you going to do the green wig? Surely a squiggly wiggly loose ended stitch is called for. I'm watching to see."

You know, deciding what goes on the stocking top is a very interesting point. I could make it wooly and ribbed like a real stocking or do something more decorative. As you can see above, I'm going for more decorative. I am doing long cross stitches for the striped top. You can't really see how it looks yet as I only have two finished and a third started. But I didn't have any of the right colors in a wool or wool/silk thread and I did have leftovers from Autumn Leaves in the orange and red-orange. The stocking is painted with hot pink, too but I don't have anything that color so I'm going red-orange instead. In other words, what I am doing is dictated by what's in my stash. I don't have easy shop access so very often I must use what I have.

Even if I did have the right wool colors, however, I probably would not have used them. The silk/wool Felicity's Garden is perfect for a muted background, but do I want a muted striped stocking top? I don't think so. I want that to be over-the-top!

I also finished the background and dotted orange beads all about it in a regular pattern. Hope you can see them. They show up well in person but not in photos.

Hopefully tomorrow you'll see more stripes and can judge how they look. As for the green fright wig, you'll just have to wait and see!


Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Thoughts on The Finished Three Camels Stocking

The little three camels mini stocking is finally made up. Hope you like it!

To recap, this is a painted canvas from Liz (the precursor company of Tapestry Tent?) that I picked up cheaply to stitch for my neighbor who loves camels. It's on 18 count and is around 6 inches tall and about 3 inches wide at the widest point.

I learned several important things finishing this piece. As you remember, I decided to use foam core inside the piece and make it up as an ornament, not as a functioning stocking. I think it is really too small for me to successfully make it a Christmas stocking. Stockings are a bit tricky to finish and I know my limits! The thinnest foam core I could find was 1/4 inch thick. While it makes for a very light weight but rigid piece, it's a bit thicker than I like. Not much you can do about that--I doubt foam core comes much thinner than what I found. So I went with a broad wired piece of trim to cover the fat edge. I'm also not sure I would use wired trim again, either. It was very easy to mold into shape but it would not tie the fancy Chinese knot I wanted to put at the toe above the glass bead that hangs from the toe. I ended up using Kreinik's 002 gold in the #32 braid thickness for both the bead dangle and the loop to hang the stocking up instead. And that doesn't show the fancy knot well. Or maybe I just didn't tie it quite right since that was my first attempt!

The real moral of finishing this stocking is to not be intimidated by roadblocks in finishing. I just changed directions when things didn't work all that well and tried other things. Another example is the little bump of beads over the edges. (Squint and you'll see them in the photos.) When I got my trim attached at the edges, there were a few places where it didn't really cover the front and back join that well. I thought that over a minute and then rummaged through my beads and found half a box of Mill Hill gold seed beads. I just did another round of couching the trim to the stocking but this time I came up, threaded three gold beads on the needle, and then went down over the trim. This is couching with beads and it puts a cluster of beads around the trim periodically. I tried to space the beads evenly but where they would hide untidy spots. I think they look nice and they add a bit of interest to the plain gold trim. This piece is pretty busy, so a fancy gold trim wouldn't look good in my opinion but a plain one wasn't quite right either. I think I killed two birds with three beads, so to speak, by hiding problems and fancying up the trim with couched beads.



The last thing I'd like you to notice is how important it is to have the bead hanging from the stocking toe. Jane and I (yes, we have the same lovely name!) realized when we were looking at photos of finished Christmas stockings how important it is to consider how the stocking will be displayed. We saw a Santa with a long coat stitched in vertical rows that looked odd hanging because the very straight ||| stitches were slanted when the stocking hung off the mantelpiece. I was just starting to stitch this little mini sock when Jane and I made our discovery. This both influnced her choice of stitches for her Santa stocking and made me look at the design of mine. I photographed the finished piece laid flat and hanging at an angle so you could see what I mean. Go to the Yahoo 360 blog and look in the right column to see "The Wise Men's Stocking is Done" photographed straight to compare how the direction matters.

I realized that Liz designed the camels to be viewed from an angle. Look at any photos of this design on my Yahoo 360 blog and you'll see I stitched it in a frame with it upright but the camels look much more real hanging at an angle. That's why I added the heavy glass bead--the make sure the camels were always seen at their best angle. It's sort of like movie stars who always want to be photographed from their best angle only. When you stitch your stockings, think about how they will be displayed and choose stitches and finishing options that will make it look its very best.

Hope you enjoyed my stitching of the three little camels stocking.

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow