Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Stocking Advent Calendar Tutorial: Part 2


Are you ready to finish up your advent calendar? My apologies if you have been waiting patiently for part 2. The holiday weekend kind of got the better of me.

To see the first installment of this tutorial, go to Stocking Advent Calendar part 1 here
IMG_1089

Materials:
Approximately 3/4 yd of linen
3/4 yd backing fabric, batting and extra for binding
24 1" miniature wooden clothespins (find in any craft store)
Spray paint to match your design if desired (IO used Rustoleum enamel paint)
Black thread
Washable marker
20" ribbon for hanging
1/4" wooden dowel cut to 20" length
Glue gun and glue sticks

This part of the tutorial is going to be very free-spirited and short. You can finish up the back of the calendar any way you like. I have already shown you one option where the stockings were laid out in a circle.
Saavy Season's Swap goodies
That won't work for a wall hanging obviously, but works well as a table topper or centerpiece. In that case the background fabric was a square about 25x25". I sewed buttons in a circle and attached the stockings to the buttons by the loops.

Another simple option would be to stop here, find a nice velvet ribbon and simply string the stockings up on the ribbon and use it to adorn your fireplace mantle. Simple, easy and you'ld already be done! Sometimes simplicity speaks volumes! Especially around the holidays when you have a million other things to do.

Another option and the one I'm making here, is going to be hung on a wall, so I'm going to show you how I made that version.

I've chosen a linen backing mostly because I'm loving the linen these days. I've laid out all my stockings in a pattern that I liked. In this case I chose a three-tiered curve that is supposed to represent a washing line. My background pieces measures about 23" by 28"which includes 1/2" seam allowance for binding. I have chosen not to do any patchwork on the background of this piece, because I really want the stockings to be the focal point.

Once your background is cut, you'll want to layer it with batting and quilt it. I've done some basic meandering stipple quilting here, but you could just as easily do straight line quilting in random directions to keep this very modern and simple. There are lots of good online tutorials for making a quilt sandwich and for adding bindings so I'm not going to cover those parts here. Use whichever method appeals to you. Here are some examples:
Making a quilt sandwich 1 Making a quilt sandwich 2 Making a quilt sandwich 3
Binding 1 Binding 2 Binding 3

Before you sew on your binding, if you are planning on hanging this on a wall you might want to add a little sleeve onto the back of the quilt so you can hang it. I've done that here. Take 2" by 20" rectangle and finish the short edges with a narrow seam. Then fold in half lengthwise and sew it into the binding seams. Pin in place matching up the straight edges. You'll be attaching the sleeve to the quilt when you sew on the binding.
Again see the binding tutorials linked above if you need to reference that step. I've chosen a contrasting red print for the binding to liven things up a bit and because I really like the contrast of bright reds with linen. Use a long wooden dowel (mine is 1/4" diameter) to hold up your quilt and add some fishing wire or pretty ribbon to hang it on the wall later.

Next, lay out your stockings again on your finished quilt background.
I get them all situated in the way I like them, then mark about 1/2" above the stocking tops on the loop side using a water soluble marker.
Then I just drew in a line between the dots, to get a smooth curve.
This line will be the stitching line. I attached my walking foot to my sewing machine and sewed 3 lines of stitching over marker line with black thread.

I've sewed miniature clothespins onto the background at the 'washing' line and then attached the stockings to clothespins. Clothespins don't come in aqua, so I had to spray paint these first.


And you are done with the sewing!! Put and wooden dowel in the sleeve on the back of the quilt and glue a piece of decorative ribbon to the dowel at both ends. Hang on the wall and enjoy!
IMG_1090

Doesn't it look fabulous? Don't you wish you could be a kid again? You can always keep this calendar for yourself, I won't tell ;)

You could use any layout, it doesn't have to be this one. Just arrange the stockings any way you like them. It's up to you!

Now, I'm going to fill my stockings with little chocolates and other treats since tomorrow is Dec 1st!


If you make this advent calendar, please post your pics in the Trillium Design Flickr group. I always love to see your creations. Happy Holidays and Happy Sewing!



25 comments:

Oops-Lah said...

It's absolutely lovely! I will have to make one of these!

Terri said...

you are so clever, I just love this, thank you for sharing

Jenny said...

That is the cutest idea! Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Just a quick note to let you know that a link to this post will be placed on CraftCrave today [01 Dec 01:00am GMT]. Thanks, Maria

wishes, true and kind said...

Very pretty and very clever!

Belinda said...

So Cute!!!!!

KQ said...

I love it! This is going on my to do list for next year for sure!

Brynn said...

Such cute fabric on all the stockings! And what a great advent calendar!

Bree said...

Absolutely adorable! Of all the advent calendars I've seen so far this year, this is by far my favorite.

Christie describeHappy said...

Oh man this is cute stuff!! I really like the one laid out in a circle too!

Lauren said...

oh my goodness this is such an adorable project! What line of fabric did you use?

Kristen said...

So stinking cuute! Love it!

beth said...

Fun. fun.

Sara @ Sew Sweetness said...

Wow, I can't get over what an awesome idea this is!!!!

CJ said...

Cute,Cute, CUTE!!! the little stockings are adorable and so are the aqua clothespins! Sweet stuff.

pedilu said...

What a great idea!
Thank you so much!
It's on my list for next year ;.)

C said...

Too cute!

VickiT said...

Thank you. This is such an awesome Advent calendar. It is very pretty as well.

MegN said...

Wonderful Design! I linked to your tutorial on my blog!

1001plaisirs de ghislaine said...

Thank you from France (Bordeaux),

1001plaisirs de ghislaine said...

1001 thanks from Puisseguin near Bordeaux ( FRANCE).

The Sunflower Patch said...

I have been looking for a advent calendar for a couple years! So glad I finally found yours! This is going on my list of things to make for Christmas this year :)

Thank you so much for sharing!

margaret said...

I am making your calendar but I am adding another line of washing. It is going to be for my son and his girlfriend and they are a mixed faith couple so I have made it in blues and golds with lots of stars and then added 8 dreidel shapes to the stockings so it will be a mix and match holiday calendar with 32 pegs. If I have time/scraps left I might even make some parcel shapes with HAPPY HOLIDAYS on so they can mix and match as they want.

Caroline ~ TrilliumDesign said...

This is really a great idea Margaret!!

Unknown said...

Lovely idea...have started to make my own, but can't fond any embroidered numbers. Any ideas?