Felt! The coziest of craft supplies!
We carry 46 colors of 100% Merino wool felt sheets from Barefoot Fibers. This lovely wool is manufactured in Europe by some of the finest wool producers in the world. It is made of the highest quality wool, the wool that lies closest to the skin of the sheep, making it extremely soft and durable. Pure wool felt has qualities that are unmatched by synthetic and wool blend felt; pure wool felt cuts smoothly, doesn’t fray at the edges, pill, fuzz or stretch. It was a joy to make these stockings from wool felt. It was easy to cut out details, and the felt held its shape through the punishing process of needle felting.
Wool Felt Christmas Stockings
To make this stocking (yeah, its just one double sided) I drew a stocking shape on a piece of cardboard and cut it out to use as a template. I traced my template onto two pieces of felt and cut them out using scalloped edged scissors. I cut the cuff, toe, and heel using the template as an approximate guide. For the snowflakes, I printed out an image I liked from the internet, cut it out and taped it to the felt, completely covering the image with clear tape. The tape not only held the image in place, but made the felt stiffer and easier to cut out with some sharp detail scissors. I pinned the cut out snowflake to the stocking and used embroidery floss to make a french knot in the center and a running stitch to sew it down and add detail. Then I pinned the the two stocking shapes, the cuffs, toes, and heels all together and and sewed them up with a running stitch, leaving an opening at the top and adding a loop of felt for a hanger.
For more info about embroidery stitches you can use in this project check out our blog on the subject!
Shopping list:
Wool felt sheets - 2 for your stocking shape and one or two sheets of contrasting or complementary color for your cuffs, toes, heels and embellishment.
This stocking was my first ever needle felting project and I must say needle felting is my favorite new craft of 2020! There is just something so very theraputic about stabbing something over and over with barbed needles... and I only made myself bleed once!
I used the same process described above to cut the stocking and cuff, but to embellish it I busted out some wool roving, a pen style needle felting tool, and some needle felting foam. I like the pen style tool because it has three needles that can be removed. Use all three for large areas, and take it down to one or two for detail work. I used a heart shaped metal cookie cutter to get the perfect shape for the large felt heart, placing the stocking on the foam, the cookie cutter on the stocking and adding a solid layer of wool roving to the inside of the cookie cutter. Holding the cookie cutter in place, I stabbed, and stabbed, and stabbed with all three needles in the pen until the roving was securely attached to the felt in a heart shape. Then I removed the cookie cutter and continued to stab, shaping the edges with two needles, until the wool was solid and fully felted to the stocking. I was just going to finish there, but I was having so much fun, I decided to add some swirly designs by twisting the roving into ribbons and holding them down free form on the felt while I stabbed away. I attached the cuff to the stocking by felting those little ball shapes. I also decided to try making a 3D heart, which I then attached to the cuff. To make the 3D heart, I balled up some roving as tight as I could and then held it against the foam to stab deep into the center of the ball (this is when I made myself bleed, so be careful!), keep stabbing until your ball starts to firm up, and using two needles, tease out a heart shape. Stab it some more until your heart is firm and there is no loose fuzzy wool. I managed to break 2 of my needles while making the heart. To avoid this, make sure you keep your needles straight and remove them completely from the wool between stabs. The needles are pretty thin and fragile, so the slightest bend will make them snap.
To attach the 3D heart to the cuff I just added a tiny bit more wool roving between the heart and the cuff and felted it on like it was fuzzy glue!
To sew the stocking together, I did a whip stitch on the scalloped edges with some metallic embroidery floss to add a bit of sparkle.
Shopping List:
Wool felt sheets - Two for your stocking and one contrasting or complementary color for your cuff.
For a more econimical stocking, you can also use acrylic felt. We carry 23 bright and beautiful colors of acrylic felt. Acrylic felt is not as sturdy as the wool felt, and this stocking will lose its shape and maybe even bust open if you fill it with heavy stuff, but at 50 cents a sheet you can cut out the template and then let the kids have a go at cutting out as many shapes they like with some safety scissors. Instead of sewing the shapes down, you can just glue them with some craft glue or a fabric glue for a stronger bond. Sew your stocking together with embroidery floss.
For the stocking above I glued the deer down with some fabric glue and embroidered her spots using the satin stitch. Instead of a felt cuff, I sewed some pom poms to the top. You could also add sequins, gems or glitter glue to add some sparkle.
Shoppping list:
Glue or Fabric glue
Want more great felt crafts?
Check out some of our past blog posts. Felt is definitely a favorite for us here in collageland.
Want more Holiday inspiration? Check out all of our seasonal collections online and in stores!
