Stumbles & Stitches

Wool Felt Wish List from Etsy

2012-01-29T03:27:00.000-08:00

'Wool Felt Wish List' by angelfunk

I'll take one of each!

Felt, 6 pack of 6 x 9 sheets... Feltcraftic $3.00	Hand Dyed Felted Wool in a B... quiltingacres $24.50	Choose Your Own Colors - 12 ... Litlbrownbird $48.00
9x12 Wool Felt Sheets - A Co... sweetemmajean $7.50	Jelly Roll of Hand Dyed Felt... ThreeSheepStud... $104.00	Hand dyed wool viscose felt ... therainbowgirl $4.00
Wool Felt Mash Up, Pure Wool... FeltOnTheFly $84.00	8" x 8" Textured H... quiltingacres $98.00	Natural Tones, 20 wool blend... lupin $10.00
Hand Dyed Felted Wool for Ap... ThreeSheepStud... $10.50	Pure wool felt sheets, 10 pi... StudioWoolwork $18.50	Retro Rainbow Set of 7 Wool ... retromama $12.50

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

Thinking of sunshine......

2012-01-28T04:12:00.000-08:00

'Marigold infusion' by angelfunk

Tin Ceiling Marigold, Piece ... LolaPinkFabric... $9.50	Fused Glass Magnets - Marigo... teresadahmen $26.00	Marigold Paper Dot Ribbon...... TrashCanDiva $15.00
24 Marigold Cowgirl Snaps Pe... CowgirlSnaps $9.00	e-Reader Cover in Linen and ... jennybartoy $30.00	Large White Floral on Marigo... NauvooQuiltCo $4.95
Marigold Handspun Art Yarn 1... Funkyarns $32.00	Felted Purse - Marigold - wi... vacabella $60.00	Recycled Tshirt Yarn - Marig... EclecticNotion... $5.75
Travel Journal/Sketchbook Ma... TheDelicateUti... $60.00	Electric Feel Plush Camera onelatenight $19.00	Wildflowers in Marigold - He... mountainofthed... $9.50

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

Ask Away!

2012-01-26T11:25:00.000-08:00

Dear readers, here's a little post to let you know how much we love and appreciate every single one of you! That's right!

Since our blog is set up as a conversation between Angel and me, it is sometimes hard to convey how much you guys mean to us. But you mean a lot. YOU make this whole blogging thing worth it with your comments, pins and shares. It keeps us motivated to be creative and crafty, and to share our adventures in this space. So thank you!

In the last day or two, I've noticed bloggers opening the floor to readers, encouraging them to ask whatever question they'd like. I thought I would do the same!

Do you have a burning question for us? What have you always wanted to know about Stumbles & Stitches, about Angel, or about me? Ask away! We'll answer in the comments or via email if that seems more appropriate. We'd love to hear from you! (Here's hoping we don't get crickets...)

Also, do you like us on Facebook? We're sooooo close to 1,000 "Likes" and when we reach that milestone, we'll have a fabulous little giveaway to celebrate. Hint hint. So, go like us and share our page with your friends, pretty please.

All right, do you have your question(s) ready? Time to go click on that comment form below and ask away. We look forward to your questions. Thank you and have a great Thursday!!

WIP: Valentine Burlap Art

2012-01-24T15:57:00.000-08:00

Both kids are napping (someone pinch me!) and inspiration suddenly struck me to make some burlap art pieces for my shop for Valentine's Day. Here are my works in progress.

"Put a bird on it!", I know, I know. But they're love birds, get it?

What are you working on today? Happy Tuesday!

Progress on the Wedding Quilt!!

2012-01-23T17:14:00.000-08:00

Happy Monday, friend! I hope you stayed safe and dry during the storms that ripped through the Southeast last night. It's true, I now live in earthquake country, but I do not miss the tempestuous weather of Tennessee -- so scary!

I wanted to show you what I worked on this weekend: progress on the Wedding Quilt for my cousin Clarisse. The weekend turned out to be quite busy, hence this isn't as much progress as I would have liked to show. But, I did some experimentation with scraps and love the way it turned out!

If you need a refresher on my wedding quilt project, here's my original post explaining the project, looking at inspiration and seeking input. And here's my work in progress post from back in September! (September?! Whoa, time flies!!)
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Link Love

2012-01-20T11:43:00.000-08:00

Well, hello! And welcome to my first Link Love post of the year! It has been far too long since we've done one of these. There's already been so much great stuff out there in 2012 -- in the blogosphere, on Flickr, on Etsy, on Pinterest... Let's see if I can share a few latest favorites.

- Have you seen Maureen Cracknell's incredible improv quilt block? I read a comment somewhere that said "it's like painting with fabric" and that's pretty much how I feel. So inspiring!

Photo by Maureen CracknellRead more »

Stamped Thank Yous

2012-01-18T09:21:00.000-08:00

Dear Angel, we have SNOW!!!! It's crazy here in Seattle, well in the whole Pacific Northwest really. After Snowpocalypse 2010 (remember when I was due with Henry and freaking out about all the snow?), I think everyone has been on edge and they've been prepping us with the forecast for over a week now. Well the winter storm is here and, wow. We're going to make a fabulous snowman later today! And cookies! And hot chocolate!

Here are a couple of snowy shots from this weekend (before and during a mini-blizzard):

But let's talk craft stuff. I wanted to show you the Thank You cards we made recently.

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Let's make a rainbow...........

2012-01-13T04:05:00.001-08:00

'Rainbows for a gray day......' by angelfunk

Color Sorting Rainbow Bowls ... MamaMayI $24.00	Mod Tree Rainbow Leaves Pill... dedeetsyshop $29.00	Playsilk Set of 12 : Funner ... BeneathTheRowa... $138.50
Valentine Rainbow Hearts Gar... PaintRobot $22.00	Spectrum Glowing /Natural H... prettydreamer $56.00	Translucent Origami Paper (R... NikkiCrossAppl... $9.00
Wee Wool Felted Beads--Set O... VermontFairies $8.00	Handmade buttons - Set of 6 ... FireWorksCoppe... $16.00	Origami Cranes On A Branch W... FuerteArt $85.00
Wood Toy- RAINBOW Building B... applenamos $25.00	Felted Stones, pebbbles rock... Fairyfolk $20.00	Little tiny "Rainbow&qu... SkyeArt $30.00
Rainbow Clothespins - Large ... ClipAndPin $12.14	32 Flavors- rainbow self str... rivulettecraft $36.00	Miniature Rainbow Moravian S... LAGlass $17.00
Waldorf and Montessori Natu... applenamos $22.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

Crafty Resolutions 2012

2012-01-12T04:15:00.000-08:00

Greetings, friend! Things are going along swimmingly here, how about you? Finally feeling somewhat settled in the rental space, and excitedly thinking ahead to March (or April) when I will have my own (tiny) studio space upstairs at my house. I actually walked up REAL stairs and onto REAL floor decking last night, and stood right in the spot where my attic dormer "room" will eventually be. As crazy as packing up the entire family to move out for two or three months has been, it will all be worth it in the end!

I've been thinking and thinking about my goals for this year, very specific things (as opposed to broad goals) have come to mind.

1. Finish this quilt! I have the batting already, and the blocks are sewn. Now to figure out how to sew them together, what the backing will be, etc. I am going to hand quilt it (!) using AMH Needleworks. It's a lightweight, summer quilt (which seems to be three seasons out of the year down here, lately) so I hope to have it done by Spring.
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Working Away!

2012-01-11T17:05:00.000-08:00

Hello there! I can't believe how fast time is flying lately. It's almost the middle of January already, two weeks into the New Year, aah! I've been meaning to post here all week. Well, here I am finally, whew!

I've felt weird about sharing the stuff I make for Etsy or custom work on here, I don't want to turn Stumbles & Stitches into a place for pimping my business. But then I thought, wait, I've always shown Angel and our lovely readers what I'm working on, why is this different? I've been making SO much stuff the last couple of months and am antsy to share it all with you. (For more details on specific projects, you can click over to my website where I post more pics, info, etc. I don't want to double-post for those of you who follow me there.)

Before the holidays, I made a custom e-reader featuring owls for the 10-year-old daughter of a friend. I loved how it turned out and made a couple more for my shop. (I used a pattern by Birdiful Stitches, you can read about my e-reader covers here.)

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WIP: Mimi Kirchner Owl for Ian

2012-01-10T03:39:00.000-08:00

January Sponsors

2012-01-07T12:15:00.000-08:00

We're already a week into January and it's about time we give a little shout-out to the lovely folks who sponsor Stumbles & Stitches. We hope you'll give them a click or two, since they are awesome (first and foremost!) and allow us to keep blogging here for your reading and crafting pleasure!

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We are thrilled to welcome The Intrepid Thread, our brand new sponsor! The Intrepid Thread is a wonderful little fabric shop on Etsy and a one-woman show called Julie. "It is my goal to provide the highest quality service and satisfaction to my customers," she says, and in her well-curated shop, you will find an array of reasonably priced cotton fabrics and pre-cut bundles.

New in stock at The Intrepid Thread are Domestic Bliss by Liz Scott, Sunny Happy Skies from Riley Blake, Impressions by Ty Pennington, Karavan by Valori Wells, and Sugar Hill by Tanya Whelan. Julie recently put Outfoxed, Meet The Gang, and Moroccan Mirage on sale for 30% off.

You can find The Intrepid Thread on the web at TheIntrepidThread.com, on Etsy, Julie's blog, Facebook and Twitter. Julie puts out a great monthly newsletter featuring tutorials from around the web, you can sign up for it on her blog.

And just for Stumbles & Stitches readers, Julie is offering a 10% discount on your fabric purchase with the code Stumble10, so go check out this great little shop!

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Welcome back to the Fat Quarter Shop! We love this one-stop shop for all quilt-related fabric needs and more. New arrivals at Fat Quarter Shop include Redwork Renaissance, Urban Cowgirl and Summer Breeze II by Moda. We never fail to find incredible inspiration when we browse this shop!

You can find Fat Quarter shop online at FatQuarterShop.com, on owner Kimberly's blog The Jolly Jabber, on Facebook and Twitter. Make sure and check out their recently opened pattern shop, It's Sew Emma.

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And please welcome back Drygoods Design Online to our sponsor line-up! I personally heart Drygoods Design and owner Keli because I get to visit her studio (minutes from my house in Seattle!), hear the latest on trends and design by this sharp mama, and drool all over her gorgeous modern fabrics in person. Drygoods Design always has an awesome free shipping or discount deal happening on the Current Specials page.

New in stock (or soon to be listed) at Drygood Design Online are Free Spirit solids, new voile solids and linen prints from Jenaveve, the fabulous Echo line by Lotta Jansdotter, great stuff from Timeless Treasures and a ton more coming throughout January and February. Keli's Sale section is usually stocked with incredible prints at crazy good prices too. Make sure and pay Drygoods Design Online a little visit!

You can find Drygoods Design Online at www.DrygoodsDesignOnline.com, on Keli's blog, Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter.

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Thank you to our wonderful sponsors for supporting Stumbles & Stitches. We're so grateful to be working with such lovely small businesses. If you're interested in sponsorship, please visit our Advertise page or contact us at stumblesstitches [at] ymail [dot] com.

Holiday Making and Giving

2012-01-06T11:42:00.000-08:00

Happy Friday! How is it January 6, already?! I guess it's about time I show you the gifts I made this holiday season. I didn't make as many as in previous years because I was overwhelmed with work for my Etsy shop and custom business. (Can't complain!) But I did make a few things, several of them with Benjamin.

First off, I should mention I made a modern log cabin pillow cover for my friend Steve but forgot to take a picture of it. I loved the process and the result and will be using the pattern to make some for my shop! I'll try to remember and take a picture of it next time we visit him. Moving on...

One of my favorite projects this holiday season was the bookmark Ben and I made for my father-in-law, an avid reader. We followed the same process as for our mug rugs with kid drawings. Ben drew a picture of himself with his grandpa and dad fishing near Mount Rainier last summer, on white cotton with fabric markers. I heat-set the picture with my iron, then Ben selected scraps in a color scheme that had to do with the experience: blue, aqua, green, brown for the water, the trees, the mountain. I took pics of the process and might do a tutorial in the near future if anyone is interested!
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Oh 2011, you certainly did fly by!

2012-01-05T06:30:00.000-08:00

Jenny, I loved your wrap up of 2011! Chronicling it in one post like that made me feel great, we had a fun year didn't we? I loved looking at your favorite projects from last year, so I decided to take a walk down memory lane myself.

It was VERY hard to pick a handful of my favorite things you made last year, but here's just a few off the top of my head:

The snowflakes from your Holiday Burlap Art were wonderful!

Crafty Resolutions 2012

2012-01-02T14:00:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!!!!!!! I hope the holiday break brought you much joy and relaxation.

Angel, I know you've had to move your household right after Chistmas for the big remodel happening at your house. How is everything going? Have you got your craft stash organized in the new place?

It is the time to make resolutions and define goals for the year ahead. We're entering our 3rd year on this blog (can you believe it? We should have a birthday party!) and I love to revisit our previous "Crafty Resolutions" installments.

It seems I hit about half of my goals for 2011 and failed on the other half. But, that's okay! My big accomplishments for 2011 were: finding the time to sew and craft with 2 kids, including a baby; making a sizable dent in my stash, by using it up in projects and giving away a large portion of it twice; and finally opening an Etsy shop!

"Grow" wood sign by William Dohnam on Etsy
My inspiration word for the new year is "grow". My Crafty Resolutions for 2012 are both general and specific:
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What a Year!

2011-12-21T22:19:00.000-08:00

Hi Angel! Happy Solstice!! I've been hunkering down and not posting much this week. I know you're busy too, getting ready for your Winter Solstice and Christmas celebrations and starting to pack up the house for the big remodel. How exciting!

As I type this, everyone is asleep in the house, aside from our little Christmas tree still bright and shiny in the dark night. I've been a crazed little elf every night for the past week or two. Since we're both so busy and in need to focus on our families during this lovely holiday season, let's take a little blog vacation. We'll be back the first week of January with regular posts!

But before I go, I wanted to recap some of my personal favorite moments and projects on the blog in 2011. It was an exciting year, full of fun events and so much growth, both as a blog and as individual crafters. If you're new to Stumbles & Stitches, this should be a fun little intro to what we're up to around here.
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Teacher Gifts

2011-12-16T05:00:00.000-08:00

Happy Friday! Yesterday was the last day of preschool for Ben before the holidays. I had volunteered to present a "holiday tradition" to the class, so I talked about Winter Solstice and made pine cone bird feeders with the kids. Yesterday was also the day we brought teacher gifts to school. I had great plans to hand make a special gift for each of Ben's awesome teachers, but a couple of days ago, I realized this was just not going to happen.

Instead, I whipped up a little Scrappy Stocking Ornament for each of them, except bigger so it could fit a gift card. Obviously it is open at the top, and also lined.

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Holiday Burlap Art

2011-12-13T10:51:00.001-08:00

Hi Angel! I hope you're well and keeping your head above water as we enter the final stretch toward Christmas. I am officially Overwhelmed, with a capital O. I have been so busy making gifts as well as items for my Etsy shop and custom orders, along with the regular routine of raising 2 small children and running a household, plus all the typical holiday craziness. You know how it goes. But can I just say: AAAHH!!!!!!

All right, deep breaths. Since I can't show you the handmade gifts I've been working on, because recipients might be reading, I am going to show you a custom project I worked on last month. I thought it might be fun to share, since it's a holiday project. (Apologies if you visit my personal website, as I already posted photos there!)

I was contacted by a lovely lady named Christina back in early November to create 4 holiday pieces for her family members. They exchange unique holiday gifts at Thanksgiving and she wanted to wow them. After some back and forth with sketches and ideas, we settled on 4 burlap art pieces: 2 with stockings and 2 with snowflakes. Along with the grey snowflakes above, here are the other 3 pieces I made for her.
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Last Minute Gift Guide: supplies and projects from our Sponsors

2011-12-12T10:00:00.000-08:00

OK, it's getting down to the wire people! I'm writing this with 13 days to go until Christmas, the time is coming when it will be too late to place any online orders. With that in mind, I thought I'd show you some of my favorite last minute gift ideas from our Sponsors. These are all things I'd love to give and receive myself!

Know someone that's always wanted to learn to wet felt? Or maybe you need to make some last minute gifts. Check out this Peace Fleece Felt Ball kit from A Child's Dream Come True, enough supplies to make many felted wool balls! There are endless variations and uses, and the colors of the included roving are gorgeous. You can add a jingle bell to the center for the perfect first ball for a baby in your life, make smaller jingle balls for cats and cat lovers. You could also use the method and materials from the kit to make the awesome felted geodes I posted about a few days ago (from a tutorial from Living Crafts blog).

These hand-printed tea towels are printed with non toxic inks on natural fabric. Inspired by sketchbook pages, this set of two tea towels from Drygoods Design would be the perfect gift for almost anyone on your list. (Other designs available, look here!)
Read more »

Sponsor Giveaway: Fat Quarter Shop

2011-12-12T06:00:00.000-08:00

It's giveaway day on Sew Mama Sew and we are participating with a very generous giveaway by our sponsor Fat Quarter Shop: a $50 gift certificate! That's right! That is $50 to spend on beautiful fabrics, patterns and more.

How to enter: For a chance to win this fabulous prize, simply write us a comment. If you'd like, tell us about the best handmade gift you've ever received or your favorite handmade item to have ever given. One entry per person, please.

Please make sure and leave an email address so we can contact you if you win. We'll keep comments open until Friday, December 16 at 5 p.m. PST. We'll choose a random winner, will announce the name here, and will email this lucky person. (Void where prohibited.)

This giveaway is now closed. Thank you to everyone who participated! The lucky winner is Maya of redzshadow. Congratulations, Maya! We've sent you an email.

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If you're new to Stumbles & Stitches, a very warm welcome! We are so glad you're here! We hope you'll stick around, browse a little and subscribe. You can also find us on Facebook and Twitter. And let's not forget Flickr and Pint erest.

A huge thank you to Fat Quarter Shop for this awesome giveaway, and to Sew Mama Sew for organizing giveaway day! Make sure and go check out all the lovely people giving away supplies and handmade goodness all over the blogosphere.

Pssst... For giveaway day, I'm also having my first giveaway of a Jenny Bartoy original! Go check out the details and enter the giveaway here for a chance to win one of my Wonky Stripe Christmas Table Runner, or a custom Wonky Stripe Table Runner -- your choice!

Winter Solstice fun:

2011-12-09T11:00:00.000-08:00

Hey Jenny! It's finally cold here, thank goodness! Freezing temperatures inspire cozy thoughts of the upcoming holidays, a good thing considering how much I still have on "the list". (Do you have one of those, too?) I just love this time of year, don't you?

One thing we added to the mix this year is a "Solstice Spiral" counting down to the Winter solstice. Instead of buying a traditional advent calendar this year (in the past we've had a Playmobil winter forest scene and a Lego City version) I decided to focus the count down onto the solstice, since it seems to get overshadowed by all the Christmas festivities we attend with extended family (but is in fact our main holiday as a nuclear family.)

I wasn't sure how it would be received by Ian, who remembers years past where there was a small window with a plastic toy behind it every day. It took a few days, but eventually he started absentmindedly moving it each day and now rushes to the table in the morning to move the bear along. When the bear reaches the center of the spiral, he'll head back to his cave for a long nap. I am sure I will feel the same way by the time the 22nd is here!
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100 Pretty Little Projects: Book Review and Giveaway

2011-12-08T10:21:00.001-08:00

How is it Thursday already? AAH! Slow down the countdown to Christmas puh-lease! Anyone else freaking out that it's less than 3 weeks until the big day? I did complete a Christmas gift yesterday, but more on that in a second.

A couple of months ago, our friends at Lark Crafts sent us the book 100 Pretty Little Projects to check out. I am excited to share my review with you guys today and show you the fun project I made from it. If you'd like a copy of 100 Pretty Little Projects for yourself, make sure and enter the giveaway at the end of this post for a chance to win one!

100 Pretty Little Projects
Pincushions, Potholders, Purses, Pillows & More

100 Pretty Little Projects is a compilation of favorite projects from the popular Pretty Little series. It features cute and practical projects from fabulous designers and crafty bloggers including adorable pincushions, coasters, patchwork potholders, doll quilts, pretty pillows, trendy clutches and much, much more. The book is organized in four loose categories: Enjoy, Use, Hold and Give.
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Kid Craft: Stocking Advent Garland

2011-12-07T10:31:00.001-08:00

Hello Angel! I loved your little Christmas wrap-up yesterday and wanted to share the ONE Christmas decoration we have put up so far: a stocking Advent garland made by Ben (with a little help from me).

I was so determined to make a beautiful Advent calendar this year but have been so busy and overwhelmed, it didn't happen. Ben has been asking about a calendar for weeks, begging me to purchase the cheap chocolate kind at the grocery store, so I decided it was time to make one, even if it is temporary!

Last week, Ben noticed the template for my Scrappy Stocking Ornament lying around my desk and asked me if he could color it. That's when a little light went off in my head. I created a coloring page for him on card stock by tracing 6 stockings. 4 pages of stockings make 24, perfect for Advent!

While I was sewing, Ben sat at the table next to me with his markers. We talked about all the special things we do during December and he drew them. Our family celebrates Winter Solstice, so several of the pictures focus on that -- making bird feeders, lighting the candle, eating mushrooms for dinner (husband's traditional Solstice recipe!). We also celebrate Christmas and many of Ben's drawings depict the magic of that holiday for him: decorating the tree, Santa and his reindeer, opening gifts with his little brother. We also talked about winter and what's special about it so he drew a lot of snow- and ice-related things.
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It's beginning to feel a lot like the holidays around here.......

2011-12-06T07:35:00.000-08:00

Greetings friend! The last month feels like a blur. We have a lot going on around here, in January we're moving out (two doors down!) so we can start major renovations on the house. A staircase to the attic and the beginnings of a real, finished and livable space up there is the main goal, with some cosmetic touches downstairs like paint, restoring the original wood trim and that sort of thing. EEEK!

Add to that some abnormally warm weather (60 something degrees yesterday!) and it is just hard to believe it's already December 5. Do you feel that way too?

In an effort to kick start the holiday spirit, we did some decorating this weekend. On Saturday we went to a live tree lot, where we picked out a lovely tree. We drove it the 20 minutes home and then discovered it was COVERED in these really gross mites, literally thousands of them. Needless to say, that tree is going to become our outdoor Solstice tree, with lots of things for birds to eat on the branches (and I guess some extra protein too, UGH!). Anyway, Lee and Ian headed back out during Silas's nap and we ended up with this little beauty:

It is small, but perfect. We'll decorate it this weekend! We experimented with making beeswax ornaments, with our own beeswax from the hives. Very fun, I love the way this little tree turned out.

Tutorial: Scrappy Stocking Christmas Ornament

2011-11-30T12:00:00.000-08:00

I'm so excited to have a tutorial to share today!! I was inspired by a custom project I did recently for a lovely customer (more on that soon) to create some patchwork stocking ornaments. This is an awesome scrap-busting project. It is simple and pretty quick: you can sew half a dozen ornaments in an afternoon. And the result is so cute! (At least I think so, I hope you do too!)

I decided to leave the edges raw, so they fray a little bit. I think that's part of the charm of this scrappy stocking, but if you don't like that style, you can use that fray spray, or sew the stocking right sides together and turn it inside out. My tutorial will show you how to make the raw-edges top-stitched wrong-sides-together version shown in the above photo.

Here we go with the tutorial (if my kids let me focus long enough, oy).

Scrappy Stocking Christmas Ornament

For this project you will need:
- fabric scraps (I used quilting cotton and natural linen)
- batting scraps
- lightweight interfacing (optional)
- felt scraps for the cuff (optional)
- ribbon, yarn or twine for the hanging loop
- scissors, sewing machine, thread, pins, washable fabric marker
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