Quilty Stocking - Part 2

Thanks for all the lovely comments and feedback on the Quilty Stocking tute I posted earlier this week. As promised, I'm now posting Part 2 - with easy quilting and assembly instructions so you can finish your stocking off right!

To finish your stocking you'll need:

Materials

- 2 stocking outers (made from Quilty Stocking - Part 1)

- Plain Calico or any other fabric suitable for the lining (at least a half meter)

- wadding/batting (at least a half meter)

Equipment

- Quilters Square

- Rotary Cutter

- Cutting Mat 

- Fabric Pen (washable)

- Sewing Machine and Kit

1. Cut your linings

Fold you lining fabric over (right sides together if you are doing a patterned lining) so you can trace and cut through two layers, and lay one of your stocking outers face-down so that you can trace around it.  Cut around your tracing mark, or just use the edges of your stocking outer for guidance.

If you are using a patterned fabric or a fabric with a "right side" for the lining, by fold and laying them right sides together you'll end up with two pieces which are oppositely shaped, just like your stocking outers.

2. Quilting Time

Set your linings aside, and lay your patchwork pieces on two pieces of wadding/batting which are roughly cut out to be bigger than the stocking shape. (I just cut might roughly, being sure there was at least a 1/2 inch on all sides).

Pin in a few places, or use fusible wadding to hold it together and quilt however you like - Straight lines, side to side, curves, and what not. If you are straight line quilting a walking foot might help you keep all layers together.

I just did a simple 'stitch in the ditch' around the perimeter of the stars, to make them stand out. I just followed my patchwork lines, and pivoted in the corners of the star, going all the way around until I came back to the edge of my stocking.  I found this was enough to hold my layers, as I also used a fusible wadding.

Here's a close up of my stitching. You can see that by stitching in the ditch, my stitches are fairly well hidden, but also add some depth to make the star stand out a little more.

3. Trim, trim, trim.

Once you quilting is complete, trim the wadding down to match the edges of your stocking.

4. Make a hanging loop.

To make a hanging loop I simply cut a 2.5" by 6" rectangle of my lining fabric, and then pressed it in half lengthwise. I then opened it up and used my press line as the centre mark to then fold each of the raw edges in so that they were pressed to the centre, before finally pressing along the centre line again so that the long raw edges were pressed into the middle.

Then sewing a few line of finishing stitches to hold your loop together.

 5. Assemble the pieces.

Take one of your stocking outers and one of your linings, and lay them face down together so that the stocking shape lines up nicely. Then sew with a 1/4" seam across the top of your stocking only. So that the pieces are linked at the top.

Press open so that your stocking outer appears like this:

Then do the same for the second outer and inner.

6. Bring it all together.

Lay your two finished stocking inner/outers face down together so they sort of look like a giant comedy handlebar moustache.

Like so:

Pin in place, and then sew around the entire perimeter of the stocking with a generous 1/4" seam starting at the foot/bottom of the lining.

As you approach the part where the lining and outer stocking meet, be sure to put the loop in place, just over 1/4 of an inch below the point where you begin to sew the outer together, as in the photo below. If you tuck it in place and continue to sew around the perimeter your hook will stay in place. If you leave a generous 1/4 inch then you'll have enough room to sew your finishing stitch around the top of the stocking later.

Above you can see where the loop is in place between the outer stockings, and below you can see how it looks when you continue to sew, with just the edge of the loop sticking out.

Continue to sew around the entire perimeter, leaving a 4" gap in the sole/foot/bottom of the stocking. (see below)

Here's how the stocking looks from the outside, before its turned out. You can see my 1/4" seam and my quilting lines.

 7. Finishing touches.

Turn your project inside out, using the hole in the foot and then press.

Tuck the edges around the turning out hole in and sew a quick top-stitch to close the hole, backstitching at both ends (this will be hidden in the boot of the stocking, so no need to do a fancy invisible stitch!)

Push your lining into the stocking, and press around the top so that the lining lays nice and flat.

If you like, sew a few lines of finishing stitches around the top of the stocking to ensure your fold stays nicely in place.

Sewing around the top edge of the stocking. 

Trim any loose ends, and then hang your stocking up and be proud.

Your work isn't over yet, though as you'll still have to decide what to fill it with... or better yet, make it for yourself and leave that job up to Santa~

If you like this stocking, but making it isn't for you - you can buy it on ebay and support Macmillan Cancer Support through my 52 weeks : 52 crafts fundraiser. Just click on the link above to be taken to the auction which ends Sunday at 19:00 GMT.

Or use one of the buttons below to subtly share it with someone whose gift list you are on, and you might find it full of treats on Christmas morning! There are also lots of other great gifts for sale this week, so please check them out in my 52 weeks : 52 crafts round up Part 1 here.
  

Week #39 - Quilty Stocking

You have already been warned that the Christmas embargo has been lifted! So make way for a perfectly Christmassy craft with my quilted stocking tutorial. (this particular stocking will also be auctioned off this week for Macmillan Cancer Support).

I'm publishing Part 1 of the tutorial (the patchwork) today, and Part 2 later this week.  This tutorial is a little more advanced than my usual ones... so it might be a bit more of a challenge for a beginner. If you have experience with patchwork and quilting it will be a breeze, but if using a quilter's square, rotary cutter and cutting mat are new to you expect that this will take a bit of time to get right.

Now I like this stocking because its got a touch of that cheesy-twee-crafty Christmassy goodness that we all hate to love and love to hate, but I've tried to combine the pattern I've made with modern fabrics so that its a little more muted... you can of course go as Christmassy as you like and use whatever fabrics you wish.

You'll Need:

Materials

- 4 Fat Quarters of Printed Cottons (this will be enough for two stockings actually)

- Plain Calico or any other fabric suitable for the lining

- wadding/batting

Equipment

- Quilters Square

- Rotary Cutter

- Cutting Mat 

- Fabric Pen (washable)

- Sewing Machine and Kit

Let's get started. 

1. Cut your Squares.

You'll need to cut squares out for both sides of the stocking and lay them into sets.  If it helps cut for your fat quarters into strips before cutting them to get the following number of squares:

3" squares - 12 in each colour (48 in total)

2.5" squares - 12 in each colour (48 in total)

Set your 2.5" squares aside, and separate your 3" squares into piles of 12 with 3 of each colour in each pile. (Ie. you'll end up with 4 piles of 12 squares)

2. Lay out your squares and prep.

 For each of your piles of 12 squares do the following.

Lay all squares out face up, and then lay squares right side together so that each colour is paired with another colour. The easiest way to do this, without getting mixed up is like this (follow the instructions).

Lay squares right side up in four columns of three

Lay colour 1 (three squares), face down on colours 2, 3, and 4

Lay colour 2 (two squares left) down on 3, and 4

Lay remaining colour 3 (one square left) on square 4 

Do this for all your squares, then prep them by drawing a diagonal line down each one using a fabric pen and your quilter's square. (This will serve as our seam allowance line when we piece our triangles)

At this point you will have your original 48 squares, now in pairs of 24 face together, with lines drawn down the diagonal. For simplicity's sake, try to keep the squares in their stacks of six throughout the piecing process so that they don't get too shuffled up.

3. Piece it up!

Sew a scant 1/4 inch seam on either side of your diagonal line, on all your 24 pairs of squares. 

If you do 6 at a time you can keep them in the groups they started out with, sewing down one side of the line then down the other making a daisy chain of pieces.

Check your seams and then cut along the diagonal line you used as a seam guidance.

 Ta dah!

Press each piece open! When you started you had 48 squares, now you'll have 48 squares again each made up of two triangles.

4. Trim em' down.

Using your quilter's square, rotary cutter and mat, trim these squares down to 2.5 inches, so they will fit with your other squares. Using the diagonal on the quilters square to make sure your diagonal lines up.

See?

5. Shining Stars

Each set of six pairs of squares will now be a set of 12 squares. Each of these sets, can be laid out to create a star with 8 points. Play around with your pieces to make a star.

Create a second star, and then using your plain squares fill the gaps to create a 'boot' like layout for your stocking. 

This boot will be made up 48 squares total, that is 9 squares tall, and 7 wide (with a gap for the boot shape). Use the photos to help you plot your boots. (I broke up one of my stars a bit on this side, but you can keep them as-is if you prefer).

6. Piece and press and piece and press and piece.

Starting with pairs of squares next to one another, begin to piece your stocking making sure you keep things in order so you don't mix up your layout.

Here is a string of squares pieced together in pairs, which I then press open, layout, and piece into larger pieces of four squares.

Here is the stocking pieced into slightly bigger sets of squares

Keep piecing until you have a full stocking shape.

Finally, repeat for your other side of the stocking, but make sure you create two opposite shapes: One like an "L' and another backwards (see below)

7. Draw, shape and trim

Now that you have stocking shapes, round the edges to make a stocking shape. You can draw with your erasable fabric pen on one piece and then cut it to a stocking shape...

Then use this piece to help trace and cut out the other piece so that both pieces match and fit together when laid out right side to right side.

and ta-dah! your patchwork is complete.

Stay tuned for the second half of the blog post coming this week, where I'll show you the incredibly simple way I quilted and assembled the stocking.

Meanwhile, get started on your own project and let me know how it turns out...

and of course, if you don't have the time for this you are welcome to bid on the stocking which will go up for auction starting tonight (Sunday Nov. 4th) with 100% of the sale going to Macmillan Cancer Support.  The auction will appear below as it goes live tonight.

*** Update *** The second part of the tutorial is now posted, and you can find it here: Quilty Stocking - Part 2.