Friday, November 20, 2009

Our Christmas Elves have been busy

Won't these look great hung by your chimney with care?


Create a set for the whole family or give one as a gift. Perfect for baby's first Christmas, newlyweds starting their own traditions together or a favorite pet. These stockings are sure to become family heirlooms.


All stockings are made with a new environmentally friendly felt, called Ecospun, made from 100% recycled plastic bottles.

You can purchase them here in our Etsy Shop

And now you can make them yourself. Here's a tutorial on how to make your own Silhouette Christmas Stocking. It can be sewn, but you can also just glue it.  This is my first sewing tutorial, so if you encounter any problems, feel free to contact me with any questions.

You will need:
Two pieces of 12" x 19" pieces of felt for stocking
9" x 12" piece of coordinating felt for cuff and background circle 
Freezer Paper
X-acto Knife
Scissors
Thread or Fabric Glue
Sewing Machine or Needle and Thread (you can also glue)
Stocking Template (found here)


First, we're going to start off by creating a silhouette.

Step 1: Take a good profile shot of your subject. Ideally they should be standing against a light colored wall. Shoot the photo from their eye level. Make sure that their entire head and hair are in the photo. If a girl has long hair, it often works better to have their hair up in a bun or ponytail.

Step 2: Using your photo editing software, size the photo to your desired size. For this stocking, I made the profile 3" x 3".


Step 3: Print out your photo onto Freezer Paper (this can be found at any grocery store)  Make sure that you are printing on the dull side of the paper. If you prefer, you can print the photo onto regular paper and just tape it over a piece of freezer paper.

Step 4: Tape your photo onto your cutting mat. I drew a nice, curvy neckline onto the paper and then, using an X-acto knife, carefully cut out the image.



Step 5: Place the freezer paper, matte side up, and iron the freezer paper onto the felt that you've chosen for your silhouette. (The heat will slightly melt the freezer paper's waxy coating so it adheres to the felt for easier cutting.) Use the appropriate setting for the type of felt you are using (synthetic, wool, etc.) It should only take a few seconds for the freezer paper to adhere to the felt.



Step 6: Using a good pair of scissors and the freezer paper as your pattern, cut out the silhouette, then peel off the freezer paper.


Now we will  move onto the stocking.

Step 7: Using our template (provided here) or a favorite stocking you have at home, create a pattern. If you are using our pattern, you will need to enlarge the pattern (225%) and print out the template onto several sheets of paper and then tape the pieces together.

Step 8: Cut out two pieces of felt from this pattern.


Step 9: If you would like to add a circle background behind the silhouette, cut out a circle from another piece of felt, slightly larger than the silhouette itself. I used a 4" circle with this stocking.
 

Step 10: Position this circle onto the felt stocking and attach it. You can use your sewing machine, hand stitch it or just glue it. 


Step 11: Now attach your silhouette to the circle. Again, you can machine or hand stitch it or just glue it.

Step 12: If you would like to add a cuff to the top, cut out two pieces of felt, using the template provided.  Line up your cuff with the top of the wrong side of each stocking and machine stitch across the top of each side of the stocking.

Step 13: Now line up the pieces of your stocking, and pin them together. If you've added a cuff at the top, extend the pieces straight up over the stocking and pin those edges together as well.

Step 14: Now you can machine stitch (using a 1/4" seam allowance), hand stitch or just glue the pieces together.  Cut any excess from the side of the cuff so that it will fold over neatly.



Step 15: Now just flip the cuff to the outside and you've got a stocking. If you desire, you can cut a piece of felt approx. 1/4" x 4" and stitch it to the inside of the top corner of the stocking for hanging.



Variations:

You can add a scalloped edge to the cuff.

You could add personalization to the cuff by cutting out a name, initials or date in felt and adding them to the cuff. You could also use embroidery for this.

If you have any questions at all, please feel free to leave a comment and I'll reply as quickly as possible.

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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

This is a fantastic idea! I'm including them in my Friday Favorites tomorrow!