Thursday, December 13, 2012

A swag of Christmas stockings ... or bagettes?

This coming Christmas the family has decided to try and aim for an economically, environmentally and socially responsible festive season . Not everybody is flush with ready money, and I am grateful that my lot seem happy to appreciate what they already have than be overly worried about the giving and receiving of gifts . Our target is a meagre budget of $5.00 (Australian) for each person, and my job now is to whip up some lovely Christmas stockings for the stocking of little offerings.

 So I was thinking about what size would be needed, and considered that some gifts might not actually be that small (it is possible that a second-hand book or two could have been procured) . The traditional ye olde Christmas stocking could be just a bit squishy when it comes to housing six or seven gifty things . And thinking about what fabric I had stashed away I hit upon this medieval shield-shaped bag idea. The red linen is what remains from a thrifty meterage purchase a couple of years ago, likewise with the spotty cotton lining. I also ferreted out some course white linen for the fleur-de-lis applique.

 The most thrifty part of this project though has to be an upcycled Marcella bedspread that was falling into tatters . I have been tenderly coddling this lovely old textile for several years, but it really had become quite useless as a coverlet . So I studied it carefully to see how best to use the various design elements . Several sections were embossed with fleur-de-lis motifs, which I thought would nicely mirror the linen applique . I finished stocking/bagette number one today and have another six all lined up on my cutting table ready for my next session at the sewing machine .

On top of all this sewing it might be timely to start thinking about what I will be putting inside these lovely bags. My aim is to shop local, to re-purpose, perhaps to cook up some sweeties or to see what I can whip up on the sewing machine. But each gift will be an offering of love. 
I love how at Christmas I fall in love with Christmas all over again .
Happy gift hunting :)

Evie xxx

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