Holiday DIY: Fleur de Lis Burlap Stocking with Feather Trim

On my continued quest to decorate my family room each Christmas with the highly atypical (for Christmas) orange accents, please meet my most favorite project in quite some time! I absolutely love how these burlap stockings turned out - and this really only took about 45 minutes for both stockings. (Not too bad for winging it....I could probably turn them out more quickly now that I have at least some idea of what I'm doing!) This is a very easy, NO-SEW project that you can replicate with your own color scheme and materials should you choose to accept the challenge! ;)

Here's what you'll need:
-Burlap Fabric
- Cheap feather boa
- Heat & Bond (thin roll)
- Heat & Bond (large roll- though you can improvise with fabric glue if you're more patient than me)
- Chalk or a Pen
- Scissors
- Iron (like for de-wrinkling clothing)

So as you know if you read my previous entry, I bought an orange feather boa from Five Below yesterday for $3.  I used just a bit of it for the feather ornaments previously described, but I still have oodles more left.



Last fall, I purchased this burlap fabric, pre-printed with Fleur de Lis, at Wal Mart for less than $5 per yard.  I had grand plans for making tree skirts and a few gifts, but alas, the fabric has remained untouched for the last year.  Unacceptable, and just dying to be remedied.

I did not prewash the fabric for this project....seemed unnecessary given the use.  But feel free to do so.  From what I've seen on Pinterest, it can make the fabric a bit more friendly to work with.

This is not a precision project.  Burlap is tough -  and pretty easy to work with.  The amount of fabric you need depends on the size you want your stockings to be.  I wanted to do minimal cutting for this project, so I just left my fabric folded in half lengthwise and eyeballed how much I'd needed to make two stockings - which was about as much as you see here in this photo. (My guess is about half a yard or less.)  I cut that folded square off the remaining fabric, turned the fabric inside out, and again folded it in half lengthwise (so the original fold remains uncut).  Next, I used a regular old ball point pen to hand draw a stocking shape.  No real need for a template, I promise you! The weave of this fabric guides your lines - it's pretty much impossible to be crooked with burlap.  (And I tend to be crooked with just about anything else, so this is 100% trustworthy!) On the other hand, burlap is not terribly curve-friendly. Consequently, my stocking has pointed toes rather than curved.  It's all good, though.  I like it like that!My stockings are probably about 24" long and somewhat narrow, but you can make yours however you wish.

Once you've cut it, you'll have two seperate stocking pieces that looks like this once unfolded.Next step is to turn the fabric backward, and press the edges of the burlap into something close to 1/4 inch seams.  Again, this is not precision - you can even use your fingers rather than an iron. This fabric will keep you straight. It's very thoughtful and kind!  Next, take the heat and bond tape and place it all the way around those pressed edges.  After you iron it on, give a a few minutes to cool before you peel the tape.

Once you've peeled the tape off, you've now got adhesive on both sides of the seam ready to do for you what would otherwise require a sewing machine. (Mad props to the inventor of Heat & Bond!!!)   Now you're ready to fold that stocking back in half (pattern side of fabric facing front) and lining up those Heat & Bonded edges to be ironed together. (However, see note below about hanging loop.  It really will make your life easier to add this before you seal the sides together, and you'll learn from my mistakes!!!)  Make sure you use a towel if you're not using an ironing board!!!

Okay, so now the form of your stocking is sealed and ready to be made pretty.  Here's where I used the big ole' role of heat and bond to create an adhesive all over the edge of my stocking in order to add the feather trim.  (Fabric glue would work, too, but it takes time to dry and I like instant crafting gratification. )

Once you've ironed the adhesive on and removed the tape, you're ready to clip off a small strip of feather boa and add the feathers to trim the stocking,  Because feathers are a bit delicate and ethereal, and likely to leave some sticky adhesive exposed to your unprotected iron, I strongly suggest you use a barrier fabric to protect both the feathers and your iron. ( I used a scrap of burlap, because it was handy. And ultimately unharmed.) You may need to do a bit of situating of feathers to fill any blank spots while the adhesive is still warm.

Now, I do want to warn you that this wider adhesive may seal your stocking shut, as it did mine.  Do not panic!!! All you have to do is get that adhesive hot again with the iron and it will soften enough to let you peel it back open.  Shoo!! That was close!!! Disaster averted! If you read this through BEFORE  you started your project and avoided my mistake, this is your last step!!! 

  But since I lacked forethought, the final piece of the project for me was to take a strip of scrap burlap  - about 10 inches long - to create a loop for hanging, like so.  I added small bits of Heat & Bond to each end, which allow you to seal this piece into a hanging loop. Lastly, I used another two strips of Heat & Bond to adhere the strip into the inside rim of the stocking.   You'll still want to do this part; just earlier in the process - before you seal the edges of the stocking together. It's a bit of a burn hazzard trying to iron inside the sealed stocking....not impossible, but clearly not the best strategy.  I'm sure you'll be pleased to heed my warning and avoid the potential blister.  

So that's it....pretty easy! Hope it seems simple to you, too, and that you end up with your very own custom creation that meets your own sassy color scheme! Now here's hoping Santa fills it up with all sorts of sassy jewelry and cosmetics and hair products and cozy socks and..... you get the picture!