Christmas stocking - the prototype

First of all, thank you to all of you who took the time to comment on my new Etsy shop. I am truly touched by all your best wishes! :o)

The thing I'm looking forward to most about having the shop is not having to justify - mostly to myself - why I would make something. Now my answer to the question "what's that for?" will be "it's for the tartan bee!". The best excuse ever to make things just because I want to make them! :oD

So, on that note, I decided I'd like to make some Christmas stockings. Out came the paper and the pencil and I drew a rough shape which actually turned out really well on my first attempt!

I wanted to make the outsides patchworked and quilted and the insides would be lined so there wouldn't be any raw edges in there. I didn't take any photos of the process - don't know why - but here are the two sides of the finished stocking.

And the inside lining.

Now, the best thing about making a prototype is that you can see where things could be improved. This stocking is really bulky around the seams which meant I couldn't top-stitch the top edge to keep that lining tamed. I suppose I could do it by hand but do I want to? Not particularly.

It also took me quite a long time to make the stocking - about 3 hours in total! - and being able to make only one stocking a day isn't exactly going to fill the shelves of my virtual shop very quickly. So I'm now thinking I might just do patchwork on one side rather than both. It would cut down the bulk and speed up the process as well. I feel another prototype coming on.