Years ago, we traveled out of state to visit Grandma's for Christmas. Everything was loaded into the back of our van. There were 10 of us in our large family. We were very excited for Christmas, as any family would be. I don't remember how close to Christmas this happened, but it was very near to the actual day. It could have been Christmas Eve. What I do remember is that our van was broken into, and our Christmas was stolen. All of the presents were taken, but the biggest loss were the homemade stockings that our mother had made for us. I was a younger teen when this happened, but I still felt the loss. We used those stockings every year. You could replace everything except for those stockings which held sentimental value.
They were made out of felt and sequins embellished them, and they had our names at the top. This had an impact on me, and when I got married, I knew I wanted to carry on this tradition in my family.
20 years ago, I found stocking kits at Wal-Mart and was overjoyed because I had a map. I am creative, but I wanted something more detailed and this was beyond my skill to come up with it on my own. The company that I have found since that I like is called Merry Stockingsor anywhere you can find the Bucilla brand.
The first stocking was made for my husband, and isn't my best, but it was made with a whole lotta love!
The kits give you all the felt pieces, beads, thread, sequins, and needles you need. You have to put it together.
There are detailed instructions, and there are usually 100+ steps to follow.
Each stocking took me 40(ish) hours to make. You have to handcut the pieces and also do all the embroidery and sequining and stitching. It is a labor of love.
I usually would sew while watching Christmas movies or chitchatting with the family. Through the years, the kids would start asking to help. They have done some sequins and also some stitching now.
My daughter put in the special request for the penguin stocking. I had originally made the snowflake one for her. She wasn't diggin' it, and so we went online and looked at different stocking kits and that is the one she chose, and she loves it.
I have made these stockings about one a year until they were made for all of my kids now. It is almost a Christmas tradition to have me making the stockings.
Our tradition with the stockings is like many others, fill them with candy and trinkets for Christmas morning. We usually have them standing up underneath the tree because they are too heavy to keep hanging from a fireplace at that point.
It makes me so happy to have carried on this tradition for my kids. Getting Christmas stolen so long ago really had an impact on me because it was the things that we couldn't replace that really mattered. These stocking hopefully will last years. I don't anticipate replacing them, but I do think I will be adding to them when more family members join the crew. We'll have to see if my kids want to make their own for their families or if they will end up putting me to work.
P.S. I didn't ever get my stocking replaced. I just use a random stocking now, but once I lay my eyes on a stocking kit that "speaks to me," I will probably make my own to complete our collection.