Bucilla Christmas Stocking (In the Workshop)

One of my goals for 2018 was to complete a Bucilla stocking for my sister in law. The Bucilla kits are part of a family tradition reaching back to my great grandmother's generation. I have a Bucilla stocking that my mom made for me when I was a toddler (can you believe it's held up after all these years?). I've continued the tradition by completing the Airplane Santa stocking kit and matching ornament for a friend (who is a pilot) and the Christmas Drive stocking kit for my nephew. Upon completion of my sister in law's stocking, everyone in the family would have a handmade Bucilla stocking.

In August, I started the In the Workshop stocking kit. I picked this kit for my sister in law because, as a new mom, I know she's working hard behind the scenes to make Christmas magical for her little one (just like Santa!). She won't use this stocking every year--she has a khaki/beige color scheme for her Christmas decorations and this stocking clearly isn't in conformity with that scheme--so it's just for the years that they celebrate Christmas with our side of the family at one of our houses.

Bucilla stockings are made of felt and decorated with embroidered, sequined and beaded appliques. Building up the details that make these stockings so delightful takes time and patience (and a good pair of sharp, detail scissors). I usually work on just one or two pieces per session, which explains why this stocking took five months to complete!

Here's a look at the early stages of the process:

The stocking is comprised of more than a hundred felt appliques,
each of which you must cut out from sheets of colored felt.

Here's a process picture:

And here are some of my favorite details:

I used Fray Check to give the red bows structure.

A wee gingerbread house.

To give the paintbrush in Santa's hand some rigidity, I cut a piece of a straw into a small plastic stick, which was sewn into the handle of the brush. There must be a better approach to this, but a straw was what I had on hand.

Here is a look at the finished stocking:

I'm happy with how this turned out, but wish that Bucilla had used a different color palette for the rocking horse and ball at the toe of the stocking.

If Bucilla stockings are a part of your holiday traditions, but you don't have the time, patience or experience with needlework to make additional stockings for new members of your family, check out Etsy. There are more than a couple Etsy shops offering made-to-order Bucilla stockings (and at a price that's a steal given the time it takes to make one of these stockings).