AKA my version of a no-sew stocking.
After several frustrating hours searching online for stockings worthy of being called "beachy" and finding nothing but a scant one or two ridiculously priced at close to $200 a piece, I decided I'd make my own. At first I thought I might attempt to cross stitch some beachy like items onto premade stockings, but then smacking myself into the realization that I don't cross stitch and have no time to learn, I tossed that option off the list. Then I decided I'd hunt for some pretty white stockings and embellish them- easier said than done. All the white stockings I found (which weren't many) were either those plain felt ones you can buy for less than $1 or they were furry- not exactly my style. I searched Etsy and eBay thinking maybe someone had done my job for me and made something I could use- yes indeed, I found some pretties but again they were too costly for my family of five. I'm looking to do this on the cheap, not break the bank! $25-$50 a stocking is not in my budget this year.
So long story short, I'd about given up hope of finding anything I could use when I wandered into my local Christmas Tree Shop (those who don't have these locally, don't be fooled by the name- while they DO carry holiday items, this is not the main theme of the store- I was actually buying curtains for my bedroom that day). For the heck of it, I wandered through the Christmas section to see if anything caught my eye- low and behold there were FIVE and only FIVE creamy white stockings in a satin material with a diamond pattern stitched across the fronts. Only problem was a BIG red bow. But for $2.99 a pop, that could be handled!
So I grabbed them up and brought them home and began to plan. At first I thought I'd just replace the red ribbon with a color better suited for my house- hard to do, the red ribbon is more than 5 inches wide, which is difficult to find and since I don't own a sewing machine, I'd have to rip the seams apart and then resew by hand to remove all traces of the red- no time for that. My solution- jute fabric. It's the perfect color, it has a definite beachy feel about it and when paired up with the fancier cream colored stocking it totally has that "shabby beach chic" look! Okay, so here's the specifics- I went to JoAnn and bought 1/2 a yard of the jute for $1.50 and a roll of 3/4" Stitch Witchery (iron on adhesive tape used for hemming) with a 50% off coupon for $1.14. Total spent so far $18.82, not bad.
First step was to cut off the big red bows and trim back as far as I could to the stitching without actually undoing any of it- remember, I'm not sewing here.
Next, I measured the size of the jute I'd need to fit inside the stocking and cuff over the top long enough to cover the red bits still showing on the edges. Added length for my hem and then cut.
Then I followed the directions for use on the Stitch Witchery package- basically you fold over and iron your fabric where you want your hem to be, then cut a strip of the tape and slip it into the fold and then iron it to "hem". I did this along the top and bottom of the fabric.
Once I had that done, I folded the fabric in half -right sides facing in- and made a mark with sharpie down the raw edge where I wanted to join the pieces of fabric together and then followed that line for placing my tape.
The end result is a tube shape.
I turned the stocking inside out and used a tiny bit of the Stitch Witchery to adhere the jute to the inside of the stocking. I flipped everything back to the correct side, folded down the cuff
and finally, I added a twine loop for hanging (okay so this little bit I actually stitched on, it's not 100% "no-sew")
and a seashell for a bit of decoration.
Each person has a different shell so we can tell who's stocking is who's.
Since I had the twine and the seashells in the house, my final cost for 5 custom stockings was less than $20! This same idea can be modified to fit any sort of theme- you can use any stocking that matches your decor (I've even seen some cute ones at Dollar Tree!) Get a coordinating fabric and then embellish with something that emphasises your theme- you could get little ornaments with snowmen, Santas or angels- even candy canes- how cute would that be?! And the great thing is, because it's so affordable you can change them year to year as your decor changes!
Happy Holidays!
Posts
