The green one is for Ava D. I love the busy-ness of this one, but did not like that there was no banner area at the top for her name. Since the felt has preprinted placement lines, I did not have the option of modifying the design. Instead I did as the pattern instructed and put her name (thankfully short) on the back of the larger gingerbread man hanging from the top
The blue one is for Weston D. and this one presented other problems. I have always chosen stockings with a Santa theme. He has to be there. I also choose stockings that are 18" long, but this one was only 15". My only other option available in the stores around town. This pattern also wanted the name to be written on a felt version of a gift tag. No way 'Weston' would fit if I wanted to do it in a shiny gold cording, and it wasn't near cute enough.
My solution was to add the extension above the stocking (thankfully a friend gifted me lots of felt this year and the white was a good match.) Once I added more beaded sequins around and the name, I was happy.
The only other change I started with these is to add a felt layer to line the front of the stocking. I didn't like the stitching that showed on the inside, and saw that as a potential place for stitches to catch and be broken over the years.
I also need to mention that both of these were done in record time for me. I had not thought about doing them until just before Thanksgiving. So I dropped everything (quilting, holiday decorations, talking to Tom...) and dug into the projects. I'll have one to do for the 2015 holiday, that I know of so far, and I'll see if I can find the kit in the next week or so to have a jump start.
Next on the list is to pick up Mom's quilt today from a longarm quilter. I'll have 2 days to get 400+" on that project if I am to gift it back to Mom on Sunday.
