12/15

Make Your Own Swan Stocking

Celebrate, Crafts, D.I.Y. Project, DIY, DIY Gifts, Happy Holidays, One Day Project
By Kara Whitten

Make-your-own-Swan-Stocking

Make-your-own-Swan-Stocking

Of all my years of crafting, I have never attempted to make my own Christmas stockings. I am not sure if I was afraid to try or what, but I am so glad I finally gave it a try this year! By using stiff glitter felt, I was able to create the cutest no sew swan stockings and it was so much easier than I ever though it would be. Now, I am not a knitter, so I had my friend Vickie Howell of The Knit Show help me out with the knitted band on the top. If you know how to knit, you are in luck because Vickie was nice enough to share her instructions, and if you are not a knitter and don’t have a friend you can beg to help you out, don’t worry, because I have a solution for you! So break out the felt and hot glue gun and let’s get crafting!

Make-your-own-Swan-StockingSupplies:
-1/2 yard of thick white glitter felt
-2 sheets of stiff pink glitter felt (You need two sheets per stocking plus an extra sheet if you don’t want to attempt the knitted portion)
-1 sheet orange felt
-1 sheet black felt
-hot glue gun
-scissors
-1 ball worsted weight yarn (We used Valley Yarns Superwash Color by Vickie Howell, in color: Manic Panic)
-size U.S. 8 (5 mm) knitting needles—or size needed to obtain gauge
-tapestry needle

Step 1: Begin by cutting out your white felt into a swan neck and body shape as well as cutting out 25-30 feathers. I just hand cut these in a general leaf shape, the variation from one feather to the next gave the feathers character.

Step 2: From the black and orange felt, cut out the eye, top of the beak, and the beak, respectively.

Step 3: Cut out two stocking shapes from the pink felt. These stockings will have a shortened neck because we will be adding the knitted or felt cuff to the top, depending on the option you choose. But you will want to make sure that the neck is 6″ wide, so measure this part so that your cuff can fit. Use the hot glue gun to pipe a bead of glue around the edge of piece of pink felt and attach it to the other piece of pink felt. You can also sew these together if you prefer.

Step 4: Use the glue gun to attach the beak, eyes, swan body, and feathers to the front of the pink stocking overlapping the feathers as you start at the right side and work your way left.

Make-your-own-Swan-Stocking

Step 5: For those of you choosing to attempt the knitted cuff, follow Vickie’s directions below:

GAUGE
Approx. 4.5 stitches per inch in Slipped Rib Stitch, slightly stretched.
FINISHED SIZE
12 1/2” x 3 1/4″
DIRECTIONS
Cast on 57 stitches.
Row 1: *Slip 1, purl 2; repeat from * to end.
Row 2: *Knit 2, purl 1; repeat from * to end.
These rows create Slipped Rib Stitch.
Repeat these two rows until piece measures 3 1/4”.
Bind off in Slipped Rib Stitch, leaving long tail for seaming.
Using Tapestry Needle and tail, sew short ends of piece together to form circle shape of cuff.
Weave in ends. Block, if necessary.
Step 6: For those of you going the no-knit route, simply cut the extra piece of pink felt in half so that you have two 8″ by 5″ pieces. Glue these two pieces together at the ends and then fold the circle piece in half to create a cuff.
Make-your-own-Swan-Stocking
Step 7: Once you have your cuff, use the tapestry needle and yarn to blanket stitch the cuff to the top of the stocking neck all the way around the stocking opening. Then tie off the ends in a knot and trim the extra yarn.
Make-your-own-Swan-Stocking-
Step 8: The final step is to add the loop so that you can hang your stocking. To do this you can simply braid a few strands of yarn together and then tie into a loop around the top of the cuff or hot glue onto the inside of the cuff if you used the felt cuff.
Make-your-own-Swan-Stocking-2
Make-your-own-Swan-Stocking
Now isn’t that the cutest stocking you ever did see? If swans aren’t your thing, you can easily change up this tutorial to make your own flamingo stocking instead! Just swap the white for light pink and make a slightly different beak. But I am smitten with the swan! Now I just need to figure out what stockings to make my husband and son that coordinates with me and my daughters’ swans. Any ideas? xoxo. Kara
Credits // Author and Photography: Kara Whitten. Photos edited with A Color Story Desktop.

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