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christmas with liberty – make a stocking

November 29, 2013  in homemade, interior styling

Christmas stockings by Sania Pell ©2013 Photo by Jo Henderson

A few weeks ago I was asked by Liberty to make a Liberty Christmas stocking for Sew Liberty and their blog. I came up with and made a few different designs and worked with interiors and still life photographer Joanna Henderson on the photos. We had a fun few hours shooting them up in my loft studio.

These festive stockings are easy to make and add a little Liberty style to Christmas. Mix and match different patterns, buttons, trims and motifs to add visual interest. The memories associated with these hand-made pieces, will be treasured for years to come, they could easily become family heirlooms passed down to future generations of children to hang on Christmas Eve.

Materials and equipment:
Fabric that won’t fray when cut – such as suiting wool, felt, finely woven linen.
A mix of Liberty print fabric in different scales and patterns
Pencil and paper to draw a larger template
Sewing machine
Fabric scissors
Bondaweb/Heat bond
Iron
Ribbons and trimmings
Needle and thread
Buttons for covering, lace flowers and beads (optional)
Wool and cardboard to make pompoms

Homemade Christmas stockings by Sania Pell ©2013 Photo by Jo Henderson

Homemade Christmas stockings by Sania Pell ©2013 Photo by Jo Henderson

Homemade Christmas stockings by Sania Pell ©2013 Photo by Jo Henderson

To make a stocking:

Step 1: Measure your base fabric to make your stocking, either with one piece folded in half or two pieces pinned together. The stockings are 60cm long by 25cm wide from heel to toe with a top opening of 17cm diameter. You can adjust the sizing to suit the size of your fabric or make the stocking wider to accommodate larger gifts.

Step 2: Print out my template for reference and draw out a template on paper to the appropriate size. If you do not feel confident drawing then a photocopy shop can scale it up for you. Then pin the paper shape to your base fabric and cut out, so when you cut you end up with two pieces of stocking shaped fabric.

Step 3: Iron bondaweb onto the reverse of your chosen Liberty print fabrics.

Step 4: Cut out a toe, heal, top band and stars or flower shapes to the appropriate sizes and pin them in place, bondaweb side down.

Step 5: Iron them in place on a medium heat. You only need to do one side of the stocking if being hung, but you could do both sides of the stocking if you prefer.

Step 6: Add Liberty print covered buttons, vintage lace flowers, beading and vintage buttons to add interest.

Step 7: Pin the two sides together and stitch with a small border of 0.5cm using the sewing machine.

Step 8: Stitch a 15-20cm length of ribbon in a loop on to the top band to hang the stocking and embellish with extra trims.

Step 9: Sew on optional pompoms and tags to make the stockings more personal.

To make the pompoms:
Cut out two circles of card 8cm in diameter with a 3cm hole in the middle. Wind the wool round and round until the hole in the middle becomes small. Cut through the center of the two pieces of card and tie a piece of wool securely around the two and pull. Trim the length of the wool down until a thick pompom is achieved, stitch onto the stocking.

To make the tags:
Cut out a rectangle of fabric, snip off the corners and make a hole for the ribbon. Cut out letters or shapes such as birds from the fabric and iron into place with bondaweb.

Homemade Christmas stockings by Sania Pell ©2013 Photo by Jo Henderson

Liberty print Christmas decoration by Sania Pell ©2013 Photo by Jo Henderson

As the fabric I was using had a little bird motif within its design, I cut out the bird shape and used it as a decoration amongst some rosehips.

Homemade Christmas by Sania Pell ©2013 Photo by Jo Henderson

I first met photographer Jo Henderson on a shoot a long time ago when we were still both assisting and we worked on some test shoots together to start our portfolios. We recently worked together styling and photographing a book for my publisher Cico Books. It was lovely to see Jo again and we have continued to work together on some other projects.

See Jo’s work on her website here.

Homemade Christmas stocking by Sania Pell ©2013 Photo by Jo Henderson

Homemade Christmas stocking by Sania Pell ©2013 Photo by Jo Henderson

It makes things a little more interesting if all the designs are slightly varied. I made fabric covered buttons for the pink stocking above creating little spots of pattern dotted down its length. You can see the original post over on the Liberty blog.

Liberty print fabrics used:
Joyce A Tana Lawn, Capel F Tana Lawn, Wiltshire S Tana Lawn, Mitsi Valeria C Tana Lawn, Mitsi D Tana Lawn, Marco A Tana Lawn, Glenjade in red Tana Lawn.

Left over strips of fabric can also be used as ribbon to wrap around gifts and make them look extra special like in the image below.

Homemade Christmas gift wrapping by Sania Pell ©2013 Photo by Jo Henderson

I made stockings for my own children when they were babies and they still get so excited as they hang them up, imagining what Santa will fill them with while they sleep. I hope they’ll keep the stockings and use them for their own children one day.

Happy making x

This design and project is for non-commercial, personal use only. Design © 2013 Sania Pell.

 

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21 Comments

  1. They look gorgeous and the colour scheme is at the same time modern and traditional. I’m not sure if I will find the time to make some before Christmas, but these are definitely inspirational.

  2. Those stockings are SO beautiful! I love the long shape and bits of Liberty prettiness all over the place, in particular the flowers and leaves appliqué. Gorgeous styling too – what I would give for a mantelpiece at Christmas time! Congrats on another great tutorial Sania!

  3. elisa says:

    i love how bits of folk art seem to jump in with modern in your work, sania. the stocking shape is great, makes me think of lapland, and the finnish tendencies of my mother’s interiors 🙂

    did you see those great images of finnish people by riitta ikonen? http://eyesasbigasplates.com

    x

  4. Cressida says:

    Lovely stockings. I am trying to find the material you used for the actual stockings online. Could you please let me know what you used and where from?
    Thanks.

  5. Monnaie says:

    Nice interior decoration!

  6. Monnaie says:

    Nice interior designing and furnishing.

  7. […] I used to have a weekly feature of home ideas I discovered as I surfed the net. recipes, interior decor, gifts etc but one day this weekly event seemed to disappear and I am still at a loss why. However, there has never been a more appropriate time to re-introduce it and share some recently discovered Christmas inspiration. Starting with these cute free printable gift tags from Creature Comforts… Visit Creature Comforts for the correct size download. Creature Comforts also has a shop where she sells delightful and quirky animal prints, you can visit her store here. Above: Sania Pell is a professional stylist and author of  The Homemade Home: 50 Thrifty and Chic Handmade Projects, and The Homemade Home for Children. Sania recently completed a project for Liberty, creating some unique Christmas stockings… You can find instructions and more wonderful images here. […]

  8. Lynda Litz says:

    Liberty had a gorgeous purple beaded Christmas stocking in (wait for it) 1999.

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INTERIORS, FOOD & STILL LIFE STYLIST

ABOUT SANIA

Sania Pell freelance interior stylist London.

Sania Pell is a freelance interior stylist, art/creative director and consultant based in London. She is a Contributing Stylist at Elle Decoration magazine, with whom she has worked for over 20 years, and is well known for bringing a unique aspect to photographic shoots for national publications, leading international brands and retailers as well as style consultancy for architects and property developers. She is the author of best-selling book The Homemade Home and The Homemade Home for Children. A trained, former textile designer, Sania is also involved in many multi-disciplinary creative projects.

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