Christmas Stockings

I decided that since I got a sewing machine as a wedding gift, I should at least use it for something. So, I had this bright idea to make Christmas stockings (since we didn't have any). Yeah...I had no clue what the hell I was doing. I just drove to the fabric store and found a pattern for a stocking and a pattern for penguin decorations. I had never read the back of a pattern in my life so I had no clue how much fabric I needed. I bought probably 4 or 5 times what I actually needed. I have actually sewn things before, but that was in home economics and I got a kit that had the pattern printed on the back of the fabric. So...this was an adventure.

The living room looked like the fabric store had exploded for a few days. I figured out how to cut out the materials. I do have to say the directions were pretty cryptic on some parts. There was one part where I had to guess and I just hoped it was what I was supposed to do.

I have also learned to love fusible web. I hadn't ever heard of it before I worked on this, but it is one of the most glorious things ever invented for fabric crafts. Basically, you can turn any fabric into iron-on fabric. You just cut it out and stick it between two fabrics and heat them with an iron for a few seconds. And the material is still pliable after you iron it down to something. That's how I attached most the penguin parts:

I think the stockings turned out ok. Not bad for a first attempt at a sewing project. I would hope that my aunt & grandmas would be proud (they were always the sewers in the family).

Last, but not least, I admired the mess I'd made before I had to clean it all up.