{diy burlap stockings with crap i’ve made}

I have forever loved burlap Christmas stockings, and I decided now was the time to do it! Since sewing is not my best talent, lol, I knew exactly where to turn.  Char, my friend over at Crap I’ve Made, is a supremely talented seamstress, and she very kindly sent me a pattern and fabulous tutorial I could easily follow.  I LOVE LOVE how they turned out.  Simple, understated, and perfect.

 I love this pattern because anyone can do it.  It uses the selvaged edge of the burlap for the top of the stocking, which gives it a nice looking finish without hemming…and easier, too!  The actual sewing is quick; cutting the burlap and interfacing will take you the most amount of time, but it’s a pretty quick project, which I also love.

The best part?  I love that even if your family isn’t complete, if you know you’re going to have more kids, you can buy enough burlap to save for future stockings. I actually started this last year (but too late for Christmas), and finished them in time for this year, and since then we’ve had a little surprise baby come into our life.  I just happened to buy enough for one more stocking, which I’m SO glad for.  It also made the following tip that much more important…

  ONE TIP:  BUY ALL THE BURLAP YOU THINK YOU ARE GOING TO NEED FOR FUTURE STOCKINGS, PLUS SOME EXTRA!!!!!  The dye lot is different and can really vary from bolt to bolt, even if it’s the same color of burlap, which means if you don’t buy it at the same time, you’re taking a big chance that you’ll be able to find an exact match.    It’s fairly inexpensive, and when you buy from JoAnn Fabrics or Hobby Lobby (probably others as well), you can use your 40% or 50% off coupons to really save.

Here’s how I made mine:

{Burlap Color:  Idaho Potato}

When I went to buy the burlap for these stockings, my original intent was to go with the natural color.  The dye lot can really vary from bolt to bolt, and I just didn’t love the color of it.  I also really love the slightly darker Idaho Potato, and thought it would make a really nice contrast to my other decorations.  I absolutely love it, and I’m so glad I used it!

{Twill Tape:  Taupe}

 I used twill tape for the stocking hanger, which is super cute, but durable.  I vacillated between using red, brown, and cream, but in the end, I went with a taupe color that’s almost the same color as the stocking.  It will really depend on which color of burlap you use that is the deciding factor.  Cream didn’t look good with mine, and I decided not to do anything permanent in red, in case I wanted to change things up later.  The taupe blends in perfectly, and I love it!

 {Monograms}

I had all these different ideas for embellishing the stockings, and I mulled over it for a long time.  My problem is, I have a tendency to change my mind. :)  I  like to switch things up from year to year, and I wanted to make sure I didn’t do anything that I would just want to re-do in the next year.  If I was going to sew these, they were going to stay around for awhile.

So…I found some chipboard letters for $1 at Hobby Lobby that I liked, spray painted them red (Rusteolum Colonial Red), and used a clothespin to attach them to the top of the stocking.  Easy.  DARLING.  And definitely provides me the opportunity to do something different later on if I want to.

{Pattern & Tutorial}

For the pattern and tutorial, Char has them both available for free download HERE. Thank you, Char–you’re the BEST!!!!

Definitely go over,  say hello, and tell her THANKS! Make sure while you’re there you check out all of her other fabulous ideas and projects–she’s awesome, and one of my very favorites!!!

Merry Christmas!!!

{kierste}