CHRISTMAS STOCKINGS......

Christmas Stockings From The Past......

I thought that with Christmas now just around the corner you would like a peek at some of the Christmas stockings that I have made and designed. These are all in homes other than mine and being enjoyed for the holiday season......

I used to sew all of the time and loved nothing better than creating beautiful one of a kind designs for the home. I think the stockings have to be up near the top for me and were such fun to make......

I have always loved sewing ever since my mother taught me to sew my first skirt when I was eight years old. Now before I go any further it would be true to say that the skirt was simply awful. That said I of course thought it was wonderful. My mother has in her collection somewhere a picture of me wearing this hideous brown gathered creation with an orange trim at the hem. It was the sixties, that is all I can say in my defence......

From that point onwards though I was hooked and went on to make my first full trouser suit when I was eleven. It was a purple check with bell bottom trousers and a jacket that had a zipper all the way up the front, very trendy. I felt like Emma Peel from The Avengers. By this point I was pretty much sewing all of the time and everything that I wore was sewn by myself.......

At the end of every month my mother would take my sister and I to Bangor in Northern Ireland and let us pick a pattern that we wanted to make up and with great thought choose the fabric. This was very important and could take a while to get exactly the right colors and pattern. I love this memory and love the fact that my mother took the time to teach us both how to sew.......

I have since travelled all over the world and one of my favorite things is my hand cranked antique sewing machine. The reason for loving it so, is that it never required electricity and I did not have to worry if the voltage was correct or not. Just take the case lid off and it was ready to go. Obviously it was a simple straight stitch machine with no other stitches, but that was OK, I could manage to make just about anything on that old machine. I still have it today and would not part with it.......

It is sad to say that I very rarely sew anymore and have probably not made anything for over a year. I still keep my old machine though and know that it will be dusted off and used again when I feel the desire to create something special.......

I hope that you enjoy looking at these pretty stockings and never feel afraid to try something new. You never know when it will begin a life long passion......