A Holiday Project

A dear friend of mine asked me if I knew of anyone who could make a custom holiday stocking for his new niece to hang upon the mantle at Christmas.  I'm sure my friend is quite proud of himself for being so clever as to not ask me directly, but, being so full of myself, I, of course, volunteered myself for the project.  An offer that he gladly accepted.  The games people who love one another play...

To be fair, I have not sewn anything of consequence for some years...maybe 5 to 7.  Since my quilting partner retired, I have just turned my energies in other directions.  But this project came at a good time, and it's reasonable in it's scope.  Also I greatly appreciate the freedom of creativity that he entrusted me with.  The recipient in just over one year old.  She hardly has any set preferences with it comes to design.  My friend also described the finished product as a keepsake that she would cherish throughout the years.  I agree.

Off the table were any "cutsie" little patterns or designs.  Equally nixed were any religious
images.  Also the child's name is Violet.  That was important to know.  So I began with an extensive search of Holiday fabrics both online and at local fabric shops.  My sense was to create a stocking that featured animals.  I love animals.  Kids love animals.  Little kids love to look at and imagine about animals.  And I wanted something traditional, too.

Imagine my joy when I discovered just such a print?  I immediately purchased it online and awaited it's arrival!  Imagine my initial disappointment when it arrived as seemed too large for the task at hand...  I look more.  I looked high.  I looked low.  I found nothing that inspired me like this print.  Ergo, it was time to get serious.  I considered the dimensions of the pattern and the area of the images on the print and devised a plan to reconfigure the image using appliqué techniques.

I completed the bulk of the front of the stocking today.  The images that follow trace the progress.

This is the print that I settle on and purchased online.  I love the blue motif and the choice of arctic animals that are also being critically threatened by global warming.

Here I centered the stocking pattern around St. Nicholas and added both toe and heal pads using an unrelated fabric featuring violets.  Additionally I cut out the Snow Owl, one of the Polar Bears and one of the Arctic Foxes from the original fabric and basted them to appliqué on the portion with Santa.  Further complicating the project, I also cut out around the bunny and basted it in preparation for a multi-layered collage of images from the original.

 PHASE 1: Appliqué in the Snow Owl and the then the bunny.

 PHASE 2: Appliqué in the Polar Bear with an extra layer of cotton banting to give it an elevated form.

 PHASE 3: Appliqué in the Arctic Fox with a layer of cotton banting for the same reason.

More to come!