Christmas Stockings

We had a Christmas Stocking project to tackle this year. What a joy to add a new stocking to our family's collection. Rachael's boyfriend, Pete, will be joining us. He was raised in Prague and has never had a stocking! Sooooo, we got out the sewing machine and the red and green fabrics and got to work. It is lined so when it came time to figure out where to sew in order to get it all looking like it should I called in the smarties...or so I thought! They drew pictures, they practiced on socks, they almost had '8x10 colored glossy pictures with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one'...(thank you Arlo). Well we finally figured it out and will present it to Pete on Christmas Eve.

Here are the smarties practicing on two socks! I am trying to see what they are doing.

Quilted front and back goes inside the lining or the other way around?
Finished product!

If you are interested, here is a little history.

"The origin of the Christmas stocking is a tale of a kindly Saint Nicholas. Folklore tells the story of a nobleman whose wife had died, leaving him penniless with three daughters. Left with no money for a dowry, the nobleman was worried about the dowry for his daughters to marry. On Christmas, Saint Nicholas came to their home and saw the girls’ stockings hanging to dry above the fireplace. He then filled them with gold and the nobleman’s daughters were able to marry."

http://christmas.lovetoknow.com/History_of_Christmas_Stockings

Also, from the same source:

“The stocking is an important part of Father Christmas lore. Though Christmas customs around the world vary, many include footwear as part of their gift giving tradition.

China: Muslin stockings are hung, to be filled with gifts from Dun Che Lao Ren.
France: Shoes are put out for Le Pere Noel to fill, in place of stockings.
Canada: Japanese oranges are traditional stocking fillers, and Santa even welcomes the first shipment arrival into the Port of Vancouver.

In a number of countries, children will fill shoes or stockings with hay and carrots for Santa’s reindeer to enjoy. As a token of appreciation, Santa Claus will leave small gifts or candies for the kids. This custom is said to have originated in Holland, where Dutch children would fill their wooden clogs with food for the reindeer.

Usually, the stockings or shoes will be left out on Christmas Eve for Santa, although in a few countries, the tradition is slightly different. In Italy, for example, shoes are left out on the evening before Epiphany, for the good witch La Befana, to fill.” More about La Befana later….