Make a Holiday Decoration

 My December Sewing Goal (if you don't recall what they are, they're here.) was  to make a holiday decoration. I do this every year, and it's fun to see the different stockings I've made over the years

Stockings from last year

Crazy Quilt style stocking made this week

Elegant Gold Cotton stocking with Gold Braid trim made this week

Blue and White wool felt stocking with giant snowflake sequins and eyelet trim cuff made last weekend when my sewing machine came back from hospital

Cat about to scoop out the ornaments and use them like hockey pucks all over the house

Stockings are fun to make because they are fast, take very little fabric, and make great gifts and decorations.
You can use a pattern (there are many available) or draw your own - it's an easy shape.
I'm making more this weekend, just for fun.

The Little Stocking that Could

I found this little pattern from 1965 in my collection of patterns from my mother's stash. (I have patterns and fabric from her, Mr. Hunting Creek's mother and Mr. Hunting Creek's aunt. It's a whole family reunion in there.) "What a cute little train!", I thought. My daughter works for Amtrak, so a train stocking was indicated, even though the back of the pattern clearly states, "For Boy's stocking..."
Why can't girls have trains on their stockings? Why do only boys get planes and trains? "Because girls were supposed to stay home and take care of babies." said Mr. Hunting Creek. Bah Humbug to that! I immediately decided to rectify this grave stocking travesty of justice and make Ms. Hunting Creek a train stocking. It's Acela blue, with stars overhead to show the train running through America under the night sky.

The wheels are shirt buttons from my button stash. The train and stars are made from felt, and the smoke from the engine is from a scrap of sequin trim. Doesn't it look cute?
After making this I visualized a whole baby quilt made with train blocks and stars, train blocks and mountains, train blocks and cities...it's amazing what a little project can do to unlock one's creativity.

Beginning to feel a lot like...

What do Grinches do when they are having trouble getting in the Holiday spirit?
They decorate! To the left you see a teeny tiny tree, for which I made a teeny tiny tree skirt. I made this tiny tree skirt by setting the lid to my All-Clad Saute pan on top of the red fabric and drawing the circle with tailor's chalk. I cut it out, folded it in quarters and cut out the inside circle so that the tree base would fit inside. I carefully measured by setting the little tree in top and eyeballing it. Then I did a satin stitch all around the edges and my mini tree skirt was done. Add tiny presents! "Do you think we can get away with this as the Christmas tree?". I asked Mr. Grinch, hopefully. "Nope", he said."You're dreaming."
I needed more Christmas spririt. Act the way you want to feel, right? So I made a Christmas stocking. Stockings are small and fast and fun to design, plus they make great gifts. This one is inspired by the stocking shown in Fast, Fun and Easy Christmas Stockings in the gallery. No instructions are given for this one, but that sort of thing doesn't faze Mrs. Hunting Creek. We don't need no stinking instructions, as my mom would say.


The little stocking is removeable, and hanging from the mantelpiece on the stocking. The Big stocking is hanging from my mantelpiece. Very meta, my son said.
The cardinal bird was my own genius addition to the design.
This sent the Holiday Spiritometer up only a notch. Clearly I would have to design my own stocking.





So I thought about doves, stars, snowflakes and the Holy Spirit, and came up with this one:


To make the doves, I traced a dove from last years Quilting Arts Gifts magazine issue. They had a dove tracing that was just what I had in mind, in the gift bag article. Well, I would repurpose their dove. Then I cut out the traced dove and then with the dove shaped hole in my tissue paper, gently penciled a dove on my white fabric. Then I cut out the two doves, but they were kind of plain, so I did a rubbing on them with a gold paintstick and the curves rubbing plate(but ONLY on the dove). I glued them to the fabric with an Elmer's glue stick and then when I liked the placement I zigzagged them on with gold thread. (Elmer's Gluestick is my secret weapon for applique. You could also use Steam A seam or Wonder Under. I like Elmer's for non-clothing applications.) I stood back and admired and then decided the blue fabric with gold stars needed more... I decided to stencil on some snowflakes with the silver paintstik.
Have you ever done a paintstik stencil? I never had before. I looked up the procedure in my copy of Paintstiks on Fabric, which tells you everything you need to know and then some about using paintstiks. The stencils are a nice weight of plastic, not too thin. I held them tight to the fabric with a little painter's tape. Scotch tape works too. Whatever you have so that the stencil does not move while you are painting. Then I used a little stencil brush to color in the stencil and when I was done I lifted it up and was careful not to smear it when I did the additional snowflakes by setting some wax paper over the finished ones.
Then I left the body of the stocking to dry for 24 hours and did the snowflakes on the cuff with my new sapphire blue paintstik. It's a beautiful dark iridescent blue that matched my fabric. Tonight I'll sew the stocking together and hang up and admire. I especially like how the dove at the top(done with just paintstiks to indicate a spirit dove) came out.
If you have never used the paintstiks before, I have to tell you that they are super fun and it is only because my family made me stop that we don't have multicolored (every color!) snowflakes all over the whole house. I can hardly wait to try the leaf stencils. Maybe I'll make a table runner...

Sometimes to break a creative slump it helps to do something totally different from your usual pursuits. I am thinking now of all kinds of fun and creative paintstik applications.
Here are some ideas:
A silk wrap with stenciled leaves or snowflakes or other designs, or rubbings
A table runner
painstiked appliques along the bottom of a skirt
On the bottom or pockets of jeans
On T shirt fabric for a custom design
I'm sure you could add more to my list.

Have you done anything fun lately to break a creative slump? Sometimes I think we don't let ourselves have enough fun. Maybe that should be my 2010 resolution: have more fun.

What to make for gifts?

One of my readers sent me an email yesterday saying that I didn't say WHAT gift items I was making. I will list them below. I've been doing this for several years now, so I have it down to a science. But first...

Mrs. Hunting Creek's Rules for Sane Holiday Sewing

1. Do not try something you have never tried before. Now is NOT the time to learn how to crochet your own thigh high silk stockings, (unless you are one of those rare people with tons of free time and a small gift list)
2. Make the projects small enough so that you can finish them in the short time alloted. Will you really be able to make 4 queen size quilts in 110 days? Keeping in mind that your sewing room is not a sweatshop (although at times it may feel like one)
3. Do a trial run - make a few and see if you really want to make 28 matching napkins. Mix it up so you don't get bored and do other stuff in between or you'll go crazy. Ask me how I know this
4. Start early - start planning NOW. Do you really want to be up til 3am on December 18th making gifties for your secret Santa? I didn't think so.

You can make fun presents for people and not end up wandering in the mall like an extra in Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

Here is what I am making this year. If you do the same thing consistently your recipients will start to ask you in November if you will PLEASE make those biscotti in a Christmas Tin like last time.

Cookies - you can make these in batches starting now and freeze until holiday time, then it won't be overwhelming. Long keeping cookies that freeze well include biscotti, Snickerdoodles, thumbprint cookies and bar cookies.

Crazy Quilted and otherwise fancy-looking Christmas Stockings (there are lots of patterns for these and after having made hundreds I can truly say that they are quick and easy to make)

Table runners - these are small quilts and go together quickly - plus they use use scraps and can be made to match people's decor or interests

Accessories: I have made wraps, shawls and scarves and they are super easy and cost a fortune if you buy them. I'll work with my photographer this week to make a tutorial for you.

Tote bags: these make a wonderful green gift and are super thoughtful.

I'll post recipes and pictures as I go along. This will keep me from falling behind, right? Right? Keep your fingers crossed.

Patience is a virtue

A couple years ago I had a great idea: I would make everyone in my office custom Christmas stockings for my team's gift exchange. I designed special themed stockings for each person and sewed them up. It didn't take long, and it was easy and fun. Pictured is one of the special stockings. Everyone loved them and hung them up in their offices. Some people took me aside and said, "Oh I wish I could sew. I just don't have the patience." And I would respond that it took no special patience to make a stocking, but they would claim this lack of patience prevented them from any creative endeavor: quilting, painting, cooking, sewing. No patience! Can't do it!

I am not an especially patient person. If you were to ask anyone in my family to list my virtues, I am pretty sure patience would not even make the top ten. But I hear the same statement over and over again whenever I make a baby quilt, or a dress or blouse or pillows. They just don't have the patience. Is it that some people consider sewing complete drudgery?

As sewists and quilters I think we have a small mission. We must rid the world of this myth that making something yourself requires patience. No patience is required. The truth is making your own anything is fun. I had fun making those stockings. Quilters and sewists are the most generous people; they even make things for strangers, just because they care so much. So I'd say that it doesn't take any patience at all. All you need is love.