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Art, Artist and crafter, Artistic fabric designs, Buttons in crafting, Carens canvas and craft My ETSY shop, Christmas Commissions, Christmas stockings, Crafty creations, Decorative beads, Designer moments, Fabric art, Fabric creations, Felt applique in designs, Fun with fabrics, Gigantic X-Mas Stocking, Hand Made and Quilted Christmas Stocking, Hand Quilted Cotton Creations for Christmas, Magical Christmas Memories, Patchwork and applique creations, Polar Bear Felt Applique Christmas Stocking, Unique Cute and Quirky Fabric Creations
I hope he’s been a good boy this year then??
Having been commissioned, by a family friend, as a surprise for both his son and his wife, to create another gigantic Christmas Stocking, for their second son, my brief was…”make it BIG with a Polar Bear Please!” Well, there’s no doubting it’s big…in fact VERY BIG! At approximately 37 inches tall with a 24 inch opening and foot area too, I think it fits the size part of the brief at least;-) Then to make a Polar Bear from scratch…
First draw a cute Polar Bear Shape…tick! Cut out all the separate pieces from felt…tick! Make him a ‘turned out’ hat and scarf set with a little bell…tick!…Right!!…now he has to go on a suitable background to show him off ~ it would have been a shame to have him disappear almost, against the cream cotton fabric (Head scratch moment!!!) AH HA!!! I remembered the assistant at the fabric mill showing me some narrow, glittered snowflake netting ;-D Perfect!!…quick dash to buy half a meter!! Set over an A3 sheet of navy and polar ice blue sewn together, it was just the effect I’d hoped for, and, set off the polar bear perfectly! Standing cutely against a glittering snowy backdrop, Oh, and a little crescent felt moon under the netting too ~ I almost feel like I am in the North Pole with him now LOL 😉 Having loosely assembled all the panel parts, much hand stitching ensued, to attach him over the netting, before blanket stitching the felt panel onto the outer stocking shape.
Must point out…I forgot to photo the step by step I’m explaining ;-/, as the quilting across the stocking was done afterwards, in fact all photos were done on completion
Next, twelve little hand drawn and cut felt tree shapes, then a mad rummage through my buttons, to find enough matching colour and sized buttons to stitch onto the trees, before they were also blanket stitched to the stocking, adding, as I went around, little beads to finish the tree decorations.Eventually, at the quilting stage, using a synthetic wadding this time to give a more padded feel, I also went around each tree too, which gives it a lovely raised profile from the stocking.
From drawing to completion of each little felt tree seemed to take an absolute age, with so many stitches to achieve the end result. Though, always worth the effort, to have each one as nice as the first!!! I have completely secured all buttons and beads with triple stitching and double knotting at the back as the little boy is only two this year, as he gets older and the stocking is used year on year, it will be less of a concern, though I always keep in mind safety in all my designs!
Of course, the stocking needs a back too! Simple but still, a heck of a lot of hand quilting, Each square is 2 x 2 inches which, kind of adds up, after already finishing the front quilting surface and also around each applique piece to give added structure and profile. Next…A matching tartan stocking top and tiny loop (for safety’s sake) were added and finally, after all the quilting, a cotton holly leaf print fabric to bind, which again has been hand stitched back to finish…:-D
et voilà!! I don’t think I ever did a post for the first gigantic stocking..??… well here it is!
Our friend kindly lent it to me again to take pics, I believe it has had a good few years of use already, and, hopefully many more to be enjoyed before he grows up! Isn’t that what treasured childhood memories are all about??! The magical happy childhood memories of seeing/remembering a gigantic stocking ‘filled by Santa year on year!’ 😀
These are just gorgeous Caren.
Thanks so much Sue! It’s a pleasure to make them knowing how much excitement they will bring for the two little ones 😉
wow!!!! big stockings are the best!!! I love your design, they are so much better than those uniform-stockings from stores what look all the same… BRAVO well done!
Thanks so much Easy 🙂 Certainly never seen any this big in the shops either, they’re even big enough and warm enough with all the quilting to camp out in too lol !!
Your post threw me slightly to begin with … as my Second Born is named Jacob ..and he also has a gigantic stocking !!!…..then reality kicked in ….2nd Born is 27~ and his stocking was knitted many moons ago by a family friend
The one you have crafted is a pure delight and with a polar bear no less …if 2nd Born is anything to go by the Jacob you have crafted for will still be putting his stocking out each & every year. Congratulations on still having your eye sight after all that hand stitching …. at least I’m assuming you can still see LOL
LOL I have now three pairs of magnifying glasses perched on my nose and hope my eyesight will recover eventually…;-/ It would be wonderful to know too, that 27 years on, this very stocking is still being hung out for FC!! 😉
What lucky boys Joshua and Jacob are. 😀 These are fab!
Thanks so much Sarah 🙂 I hope they bring lasting treasured happy memories for the boys!
I’m certain that they will. 🙂
🙂 Hope so!!
How do you keep the quilting lines straight Caren? Your workmanship looks incredible.
Aw thanks so much 🙂 Currently I’m using a ‘frixion’ pen to draw out my lines before quilting…such a great invention!!! Scarily ;-/ (there is always the thought it won’t disappear later and will ruin all the work thus far) I draw deep blue lines over the areas I want to quilt. Once I’ve hand quilted I take a hair dryer and the heat eradicates the lines(think it must be a chalk dye and wax combo, but have never researched it)..sometimes they are a bit stubborn but a couple of times usually fades them for good 😀