By The Green Parent
13th December 2020
Even though I love every season in its own way, seeing the animals in winter when out playing with my sisters was so very special and it gave me lifelong memories to treasure.
YOU WILL NEED
- Templates
- 70 cm thick natural or light beige cotton canvas, 112 cm wide
- Scraps of yellow, green, white, black, red and orange felt
- Natural ric-rac braid 14 cm long
- 12 cm ribbon to match the cotton canvas, 1 cm wide
- 4 dark brown and 2 black seed beads
- Sewing threads to match the cotton canvas and felt colors
- Basic kit
1 Copy the stocking template and cut it out. Fold the cotton canvas in half, pin the template to it, and cut out two stocking shapes. Fold over 1 cm along the top of each stocking piece, press, and machine stitch.
2 Like many of my fellow Scandinavians, I suffer from the so-called “Compulsive Cookie Cutter Collector Syndrome”! I have eight boxes full of them, and am constantly looking out for new ones. You can either use the templates or use your own cookie cutters to cut out three green Christmas trees in different shapes and sizes from green felt and a golden sun (using a star or snowflake cutter) to shine over the wintery landscape.
3 Place the trees near the bottom of one stocking piece and sew in place with green sewing thread, making sure you leave enough room on the sides for the seam allowance (at least 1.5 cm). Sew the yellow sun to the top of the stocking, using matching thread.
4 Now we need to add a few little forest friends to the design. Using the templates, cut out a fox’s head from orange felt and a badger’s face from white felt. Sew them just above the trees, using matching thread as before.
5 Give the animals their defining features—the fox his white cheeks and red eyebrows, and the badger his beautiful black face stripes. The forest friends will also need eyes and noses, so add two brown seed beads for eyes and a black one for a nose, using black sewing thread.
6 Draw a pencil line across the middle of the toe and cut a length of ric-rac braid a little longer than the sock toe is wide. Stitch the ric-rac in place using neutral sewing thread. Trim all loose threads on all the appliquéd decorations.
7 Pin the two stocking pieces right sides together. Cut a 10-cm length of ribbon, fold it in half to make a loop, and pin it in the top right-hand corner, just in from the edge. Sew around the stocking, taking a 1-cm seam allowance and leaving the top edge open but sewing the ribbon loop. Remove all the pins.
8 Trim all loose thread ends and turn the stocking right side out, gently pushing out the seams of the stocking to make sure you haven’t missed stitching anywhere. Press the stocking and hang it up for everyone to see!
Download the templates here thegreenparent.co.uk/downloads/stocking.pdf
Sew Scandinavian by Kajsa Kinsella, published by CICO Books (£12.99) Photography by Penny Wincer
