More from the Christmas Workshop...

My newly married daughter asked if I had made Christmas stockings yet for her.

"Ummm well, no, not yet," was my reply. I had told her earlier that I would make her and her husband special stockings if they wanted them but once I finished the babies' stockings, I kind of forgot about the idea. Dear Daughter and I had been shopping at a local store, following the sales, and decided that the stockings "out there" were okay, but that I could do something more unique and personal. So today I did it.

I found the patterns for the felt cut-outs here and here at Midwest Living. Check out all the seasonal patterns here. I like the calm spirit of these patterns which will easily flow past Christmas and into winter. The stockings won't, but some of the other projects will. I did not enlarge the patterns (as directed) for my stocking projects, but kept them the original printed size.

I had read somewhere that you must never iron synthetic felt. Well, I did. I even used Heat and Bond (the non-sew variety) to adhere my felt poinsettias and the reindeer (or is he an elk?) onto the stockings. I pressed them again, and again, and again. And no, this was not the wool-blend felt. It was a nice by-the-yard-felt, but not the very best quality. It worked well, and I was happy with the results. I had hesitated to do some other projects with felt mainly because of the directions: "Do Not Iron," but now I will move onward without fear. Just for the record, if I were making some of the Midwest Living projects, like pillows and throws, I would spend the extra money and buy a wool-blend felt. I think they would hold up better.