I know lots of needlepointers who long to make stockings for their family, but this represents a major commitment. They are expensive, large, and take lots of time to stitch. It might be manageable to make stockings for your children, but as soon as you add in spouses and/or grandchildren, you can be talking about a lifetime of stitching.
Might I suggest an alternative? Why not start a tradition of making ornaments, including mini-socks for your family members? These can be stitched quickly, so you can make lots if needed. They are projects that are portable, so they can come along with you.
Because they are needlepoint, they become heirlooms and are treasured through the years.
There are several approaches you can take to making these.
Shape
Pat Mazu takes this approach. Each year she picks a shape. All the ornaments that year are that shape, although in different colors and with different designs. It gives her plenty of scope for her wonderful creativity as a designer and gives her family unique pieces.
Color
Many folks decorate their trees in specific colors. You could easily make ornaments each year in these colors for each person or family. They will be used because they will fit with the decor.
This approach works excellently for adults, but works less well with children because having 20 blue ornaments will be noticeable on a tree that is mostly in a different color or is eclectic.
Eclectic
I go for this approach for our family. My mom started giving me ornaments each year when I was 12. I started doing it for my husband when we married and for each of my kids when they were born. Spouses and grandchildren will get them too.
Our ornaments reflect our lives. That makes them easier to buy. Life events get commemorated. Special trips and places are remembered. This year and last even favorite TV shows are getting their place in the sun. This even hold true for ornaments I buy.We have a giant kiss from Hershey PA, a chimney sweep, many New Mexico churches, and even a hand-blown glass sting ray. Our tree reflects us as a family. My daughters’ trees reflect them as people from my eldest’s fondness for Peter Pan to my youngest beloved black cat.
It makes the trees fun to look at. But it also makes the needlepoint fun to find. Each year you have the delight of finding and then stitching that perfect design. Perhaps it will be a mini gym bag for the budding athlete, maybe it will be a cottage for a first house.
The lovely thing is that whenever they look at it they will remember you with love and remember what it represents from their past.
And that’s a lovely way to make memories!
About Janet M Perry
Janet Perry is the Internet's leading authority on needlepoint. She designs, teaches and writes, getting raves from her fans for her innovative techniques, extensive knowledge and generous teaching style. A leading writer of stitch guides, she blogs here and lives on an island in the northeast corner of the SF Bay with her family
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