The summer months mark the official start of Christmas stocking season in our topsy-turvy tapestry world. We receive Jolly Redders’ stitched Christmas stockings all year for our Making up Service, but from July onwards the pace really picks up.
If you’ve just finished a festive masterpiece, the chances are that you’re keen to post it as quickly as you can. Hold on a moment! Before you reach for that jiffy bag and head out to the post office, we’d really appreciate it if you could decide on the colours and fabric that you’d like for your stocking BEFORE it’s on its way to us.
Essentially you have todecide on two fabrics for your tapestry:
- An outer fabric (either velvet or cotton) which will be used as the ‘binding’ around your stocking, and will also be the hanging loop at the top. This same fabric will also be used for the back of the stocking.
2 . A cotton lining fabric, either plain or polka dot. incidentally, we include a layer of wadding between both the front and the back of each Christmas stocking.
We have assembled boards of some of the most popular Christmas stocking fabrics to help you to decide on colours and fabric for both the outside and lining of your Christmas stocking. Each fabric shade has been given its own reference code to avoid confusion. We have other colours available too but to keep things simple, we’re sticking mainly to the traditional shades as we know from experience that these are by far the most popular colours that are used for the stockings.
A note about different screens/devices Please note that there may be slight variations in colours when viewed on different devices. If in doubt, get in touch.
Here goes:
We use really good quality cotton velvet to make up the Christmas stockings. It’s an upholstery weight rather than a dress fabric. Blues, greens and reds are the most popular shades, with two regal purples and a fuchsia for good measure.
Blues, velvet
We have a lovely selection of blues, which work well with all of our stockings. Forget-Me-Not is great for those stockings which have a chalky palette, such as Silent Night and Dreaming of Christmas, but Royal Blue and Navy will also work well for them. Sadly, Prussian Blue has been discontinued by the manufacturer.
Navy is the darkest blue and used a lot on Puppies and Angels stockings.Royal Blue is used a lot with Cats and Dogs.
Greens, velvet
Pale Green JRG01 is possibly not an obvious Christmas colour, but the other greens are fine in particular Lincoln Green JRG02, and Bottle Green JRG03, our most popular green for the stockings. Bottle green is used a lot for Santa Stocking and Christmas Alphabet.
Lincoln Green works really well on Owls and Woodland Owls stockings. Jade JRG04 is a mix between jade and teal and works briliantly with Animal Ark Christmas stocking.
Purples and reds, velvet
Finally, we have purples and reds. Purple JRP06 and Mauve JRP05 are both great colours. The two reds create a different feel for your Christmas stocking, with Bright Red JRP04 being a lot more vibrant than Raspberry Red JRP03.
Sept 2020 Please note that Bright Red JRP04 has now been replaced (by the manufacturer, not by us) with a shade that is somewhat brighter with a slight orange hue. If you are unsure about which red to use, we recommend Christmas Red JRVCRED as this shade is a great all-rounder and a ‘proper’ red. Raspberry is lovely too, but as its name suggests has a slight pink tinge.
Remember, you can always contact us to request samples to try them against your tapestry before you post it to us. Call us on 01460 281111 if you would prefer to talk to somebody.
Fuchsia JRP02 and Pale Pink JRP01are sometimes used for girls’ stockings, in particular Christmas Love Hearts. Rose JRP07 is a new addition to our velvet range.
Outer fabric – Cottons
If you are a bit nervous about the idea of using velvet to back your Christmas stocking or if you live in a very warm climate, one of the fabrics from our cotton range may be more suitable.
The cotton fabric that we use for Christmas stockings is a really nice weight, with a good texture to it. The variety of colours is more limited than with the velvets, but we have two good reds, a navy and a bottle green which as we mentioned earlier are always the most popular Christmas colours.
Reds, cotton
In the reds, popular colours are bright red Robin JRCR01, and the darker Raspberry JRCR03.
Greens, cotton
Of all the green cottons we stock, Bottle Green JRCG06 is the one that is the most popular for Christmas stockings.
Blues, cotton
Finally, onto the blues. There’s a clear winner in the Christmas popularity stakes – Navy JRCB06. This shade is another great all-rounder as it works with any of our Christmas stockings.
Unfortunately Bluebell is out of stock. It has been replaced with a similar shade which has more of a ‘greyish-blue’ look to it.
Halfway there! Now to choose the lining colour…
We have many colours available for the lining of your Christmas stocking, in 100% cotton. Please quote both the description and the code of the shade you’d like for yours when you send it in. Plain or dotty, you decide!
To begin, the blues from Denim LN15 which is a blue with a hint of grey, and a very good all-rounder, through to Navy LN20.
And the greens, from ‘greeny greens’ Emerald LN23 and Fir LN24, to Jade LN22 to Bottle LN25:On to yellows. Lemon LN10 is a gentler version of Egg Yolk LN11, so a nice option for our designs with slightly toned down colours – and a good colour for lining our teacosy designs too.
On to the pinks and purples, and we have some wonderful new shades to add to our old favourites. Amethyst, Imperial and Magenta are all great Angels Christmas stocking. Cosmos Pink LN06 is a nice pale pink, and Fandango LN05 is stronger.
Any of the colours in this section would work well for Christmas Love Hearts.
On to the reds and oranges, and we have more great colours, from orange through to dark red Claret LN03. By far our most popular red is the bright red, Chilli LN05.
If you prefer a dotty lining, then choose from one below:
We hope this makes your fabric decisions a little easier. Before we go, a few pictures of customer Christmas stockings that we have made up in the past, starting with Teresa’s Evergreen and Poppy’s Christmas Love Hearts:
On to a table of stockings, and a reminder that we have some other colours available too – note Harry’s Fairytale Christmas stocking with its orange edging and hanging loop.
And it’s over to Flik the Jack Russell. We love how he found a place on our Silent Night stocking. He looks so cute, with his “is it dinner time yet?” look on his face.
We have made up many stockings over the years, and have created many albums on Jolly Red’s Facebook Page. For more fabric inspiration, you might like to take a look there too.
That’s it for now. Happy stitching if you’re starting or finishing a Christmas stocking over the summer months. We look forward to seeing them arrive at our workshop. The quicker they arrive, the sooner you’ll have them back!
Posting your Christmas stocking to us Below is the address for your parcel. Please pack your stocking up well, write your name and address on the back of your parcel, and be sure to use a ‘signed for’ method for delivery. That way you will be able to track your parcel while it’s on its way to us.
Any other questions, please do get in touch. We’re always happy to help,
Kelly
PS Deadline dates – UK We no longer have an official date to receive Christmas stockings for our Making up Service, but we usually reach capacity sometime in October. Please don’t delay posting your stockings as we know they are needed befoe Christmas Eve. Everything takes longer in the winter and canvases take several days to dry once they have been stretched, and that’s just the start of the process.
TOP TIP: Please post your tapestries as you stitch rather than leaving it until the autumn – thank you!
If sending from outside the UK please contact us first as it’s not always straightforward to mail from overseas. We also need to make sure that we will be able to help you before you post your canvas to us – and we can give you advice on the best wording to use on your parcel when you post it to us.
