The 12 Crafts of Christmas - No.5: The Stocking

Today, for the fifth of my 12 Crafts of Christmas, I'm sharing this super easy sewing project with you! Rudi who works in the fabric department at Annie Sloan HQ made these adorable Christmas stockings to hang along the fireplace.

Using fabrics from the Annie Sloan Fabric Collection and a simple template (see below, and please note the 1cm seam allowance), Rudi cut out 2 pieces of fabric that would make the front and back of the Stocking and sewed along the top straight edge to create a neat hemmed edge. She then laid both pieces on top of one another –so that the right sides were facing – and pinned them together.

Earlier in the day, we had dyed some cotton web tape, using my paint Chalk Paint® as a dye (take a look at my earlier blog post to find out how to dye fabric with Chalk Paint®). Rudi cut the tape to 12cm lengths and pinned these in to the top inside seam, to create a loop. She then wizzed the sewing machine along the side and bottom edges, leaving the top open and turned the fabric inside out, so the right-sides faced out – and there you have it!

You can also add a sweet detail by adding a heel in an alternative fabric. Rudi dyed Pure Linen with the same Chalk Paint® dye that she had used on the cotton tape and added this to some of the Stockings that were made from some of the simpler patterned fabrics (such as Pinstripe Mattress Ticking or Gentleman). See the templates above for this.

I hope you're playing along with my #12CraftsOfChristmas and having fun! Don't forgot to share pictures of your projects with me!

Yours, Annie

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The 12 Crafts of Christmas – No. 2: The table linen

For the second of my 12 Crafts of Christmas, I'm sharing a super simple and effective way of creating festive linen for your Christmas table! To make a runner like the one above, all you need is some masking tape, Blu-tak, and of course, some of my paint, Chalk Paint® and fabric. I used my Pure Linen fabric and chose a palette of Burgundy, Scandinavian Pink and Old White – a colour combination inspired by Carl Larsson's very traditional Swedish paintings. 

I made another table runner with Kirstie Allsopp at the Handmade Christmas Fair in Manchester, UK, a couple of weeks ago. We used Olive-dyed Pure Linen (see this post to find out how to dye fabric with Chalk Paint) and my Antheia stencil (applied using my new Sponge Rollers). This is a no-sew table runner, so really couldn't be simpler. I let the fabric edges of the runner fray a little – I love the rustic effect!

Another really fun and simple project that you could try is painting a napkin for your Christmas table.
For this you can use one of my stencils to create patterns and images on the linen. I particularly like the way that sections of my Bell Flowers stencil can be used and overlapped to create a poinsettia-like image. Experiment with different designs in my range – I think Petrushka or Tallulah could be very festive, too. I edged my napkins using fabric tape which I stencilled in the obligatory red and green (or Olive and Emperor’s Silk!) using my Circles and Bell Flowers stencils. Simply fold the tape over the napkin edge and a basic running stitch using embroidery thread, or even wool will secure it in place. Of course, you could use any pretty fabric scraps you may have to hand for your own finishing touch.

If you already follow me on social media you may know I was in Poland last week. Such a beautiful place, and I just adore the way they use colour. I have to include this example of stencilling on Pure Linen from a workshop I did with Polish bloggers. No, it’s not a traditional Christmas design but wouldn’t it make a lovely present?

Thinking of trying this project out at home? Remember to share your projects with me!

Yours, Annie