Christmas Stockings

1976

1995 and very detailed.

My memories of Christmas since I was a little girl have always included the Christmas stockings that my mother made us. They are made of red and green felt with our names embroidered onto the green top in cross-stitch and three bells on the bottom that still put a smile on my face when I hear them ring. It really wouldn't be Christmas without them and I knew that when I had children one day I would make sure to carry on the tradition. My mother got the idea from my dad's mother who had also sewed a similar Christmas stocking. I don't know that I've ever seen this stocking and I'll have to ask her the story again this year so that I can write it down for my children. What a great tradition that hopefully will be passed on for generations to come.

The stockings my mum made were started on the same year for all three of the older kids. This was in the year 1976 when I was four years old, my older brother was 6 and my baby sister was only 2. The first couple of felt creations were pretty minimalist, but this didn't last long and over the years they became more and more intricate. Each decoration was embroidered on with great care and the year was added next to it. Its funny looking at the little embroideries and thinking back to the year that it was sewn on. She continued sewing stuff on our stockings quite a bit longer than was probably necessary. It was after we had left home that she finally stopped and none of us wanted her to stop! I was 25 when the last date was sewn onto my stocking in 1995 and can remember being really sad that I was finally old enough not to be considered a child anymore.

This is my stocking. It has stuff on both sides.

Not quite done.

Well because Hamish has come along I've had to again make a new stocking. I finally decided to make Dave one too. I'd been putting off making him one because I kept telling him that he wasn't a child, but really he needs to have a stocking!! So his stocking is going to have a little embroidered thing for each year that we've been married. This is all well and good that I've decided to do this, but it also means that I have to not only do four children's stockings, but also put SIX little different designs onto his stocking. Honey, if you're reading this you know that I really must love you a LOT!!

I also made an extra stocking 'just in case' that extra baby that we're umming and ahhing about comes along!! Yes, everyone already thinks we're mad having four. I'll be forty next year and think I've got a couple of years before we decide that we're done with babies, hence the extra stocking.

Sammy's stocking.

Josh's stocking.

Anyway back to the stockings...Each year I usually made a little Christmas design up and sewed it on sometime in December. Since having Isabella I've realised that when I'm packing up the Christmas stuff in January it's quite easy to quickly cut out three little designs to take out at the end of the year and sew onto the stockings. This was making things much easier but since I'm not quite as imaginative as my mother I went web browsing and came upon some Christmas designs that someone shared out in blog land. Unfortunately I don't remember where this was and will try and see if I can find her link and thank her for making my life a little easier the past two years.

Bella and Hamish's stockings.

I printed the designs out on cardboard, cut them out and put them in a zip lock bag that I keep with the felt. That way I can always find them. This year since I've had to make Dave SIX new designs and I don't want his to be the same as the kids I was able to just use the little designs I had and put my own spin on them. Of course some of them I have just copied from my mum!

I'm trying to think of some new traditions to add to the ones that we already have.

What traditions do you have?