Revised Tree Skirt, Stockings

A couple of things happened today to make me revise my plans for that star-shaped tree skirt: 1) eQuilter sold out of the green fabric (the one with the ornaments on it), and 2) I didn't want to chase all over hell trying to find it. Talking to Mom about it, I decided and she agreed that plain, solid green might serve me better than adding yet another pattern to a design that will already have 5 different patterns on red backgrounds. So I got some plain green cotton... and a vintage Santa on green, and some retro candles on red... It was 75% off! I couldn't resist! NO IDEA what will become of it, but it's definitely a retro thing going on, even if the years don't much match up. I may use the Santas as appliqués on the solid green. It looks like old 1940s wrapping paper - it's great! Same with the candles, only not as youthful. Don't know what I'll do, but I'll use it for something. Eventually.

For the stockings, I found a McCalls pattern (free!) that I liked, and a paw print stocking at FamilyFun that I thought was cute. Only problem was, they were two different sizes, and frankly I thought the paw was too big anyway. Through the miracle of Photoshop, I spliced the two together, creating this: 

I resized the bottom of the paw until it met the sides of the regular stocking. Then I resized the paw pads to allow for a 1/4" seam allowance that the original did not have. Now the two patterns will be very similar in shape and size, since all I did was modify the foot of the stocking. I'll use the solid green for a cuff on both patterns, and for the paw pads on the dog's stocking. Since the first stockings I made in college for my sweetie and me were hand-sewn, doing these on a machine should be a snap.

I have hit another snag, however. The pattern piece for the tree skirt is about 26" long. The half-yard of the snowman fabric I ordered is too short, and the pattern of the material is not going to rotate 90 degrees and look right. So I either need to find another red background retro print to go with the others, or order another 3/4 yard of that snowman. *sigh*