It’s been a little over a month since I last did a post. So I thought I better squeeze one in for December, right on the very last day of the year of course! I’m not sure if I have much to say other then what a great year of sewing it has been. Ma & Me has come a long way in 2019, starting with this blog, diving into pattern writing, opening an etsy shop and selling some handmade baby goodies at local markets. Its been a blast, and nice to get rewarded for the fruits of our labour.
I have dabbled in a bit of sewing this Christmas season, but not as much as I may have liked. Just another goal of 2020, trying to squeeze in more sewing every chance I get. My sewing resolutions however require a whole other post, so for now ill just share with you some Christmas sewing that I have done.
There is some pretty inspiring sewing happening over on Instagram and one of my favourite sew alongs is held by the girls at Sunny Day Supply called the Sunny Stocking Sew Along. Where you make Christmas stockings using all kinds of fabric, and lots of different patchwork elements, from English paper piecing (EPP) shapes to scrappy patchwork blocks and all other stuff in between. It’s amazing to see everyone’s ideas come together into beautiful Christmas stockings, that are either treasured for themselves or gifted to loved ones.
This year I made two stockings, one for each of my nieces in Perth. The first one I made using 2.5” diamond EPP shapes. I had lots of fun diving into my Christmas fabric and cutting out little characters and Christmas notions. Snow men, Santa, Candy canes and others. I then joined all of these together and hand quilted them using my favourite new shade of DMC perle No.8 dark coffee brown. I can’t get enough of this colour and the way it stiches up! It blends a little better than black but still has enough punch to stand out. So delicious! I just love the look hand quilting adds to a project.
My second stocking I started towards the end of the sew along and didn’t get finished until a few weeks after. Oh well, sometimes life just gets in the way! I used clamshells for this one, my favourite EPP shape at the moment. I just can’t get enough of them. I used fabrics pretty much the same as the first one, with a few new additions. I just love the combination of the aqua, green and red, So Christmassy and Fun. This one I hand quilted as well using the same DMC perle of course, not that I have a little addiction or anything!
I decided to do something a little extra on the back of the stockings, besides the usual hand quilting. I added a little pocket and some postage stamps. Fabric postage stamps are a fun way to add something a little special to your patchwork projects and if you aren’t quite sure how, I have a detailed Postage stamp tutorial for you to follow.
If you’re looking for lots of Christmas stocking inspiration check out the Hashtag on Instagram #sunnystockingsal. I guarantee you will come away wanting to make your very own patchwork stockings too. I was going to post pictures of some my favourites from the sew along but let’s face it, there’s way too many to choose from!
Happy Sewing, Kellie. X
© Copyright 2019, Ma & Me Designs.
Ma & Me Designs 
I bet your nieces were thrilled to receive their oh so gorgeous stockings! Clamshells are the top of my list too 🙂 Can’t wait to see the crafting 2020 brings! xo
Yes they did! And it’s so glad to hear of someone else that loves clamshells too! 😊