Creating Stockings from Antique Lace and Vintage Doilies

Several eagle-eyed readers noticed two stockings hung with care during Part II of my recent Christmas Home Tour. Inquiries were made if I had created them or if they were purchased. I did make them and it was fairly easy Creating Stockings from Antique Lace and Vintage Doilies.

Creating Stockings from Antique Lace and Vintage Doilies

When I began planning the turquoise and peacock theme for the living and dining room I looked for stockings in that color palette but came up empty-handed. So, it was time to get handy with a needle and thread.

The first stocking was created from an old cotton runner/dresser scarf. The fabric had a few age spots so it was dyed with Rit Dye in the turquoise shade. The dye bath covered the age-related imperfections beautifully.

The biggest challenge to creating such a stocking is laying the embroidered fabric out and placing the pattern on top of the fabric in such a way that the best features of the fabric are emphasized.

You can see how this was achieved in the image above, which features the toe of the stocking, and the image below that is of the heel. It is exactly the same on both sides of the stocking as care was taken to match the pattern of the fabric when the pieces were sewn together.

I wanted the cuff of the stocking to feature the largest portion of the lovely embroidery and lace.

A Silk Stocking

The second stocking was made from a lovely piece of vintage aqua shantung silk.

For the cuff, small pieces of antique lace were hand sewn together then layered and stitched onto the silk. A few iridescent beads were added here and there for sparkle although their magic was not quite captured in this photo.

When working with antique lace you may find some pieces are damaged with tears, holes, rust marks and the like. Such was the case with portions of this lace netting so a small piece of lace applique was applied to cover the damaged area. As the applique is on the back of the cuff it is barely noticeable. The stocking was repositioned to take a photo to share the process.

Patchwork Lace Stocking

This is a stocking I currently worked on made from several pieces of antique lace. Underneath is a solid piece of cotton muslin that the lace was sewn onto. It was a great way to use several small bits of lace that weren’t quite big enough for any other project.

Here is a closeup of the toe section which required a patchwork like affect to cover all the muslin.

The back of the stocking was created from a bigger piece of lacework that originally had been part of a ladies Edwardian blouse. All of the hard work of piecing the lace together had already been done almost 100 years ago by a truly talented seamstress.

A lovely closeup of the delicate antique lace used on the cuff. Again, it was one larger piece.

I hope you are inspired by this post to create your own stockings.

Perhaps you have your own heirloom fabric and lace that you can use.

I’ll be back with another post tomorrow.

Laura