  I have this fabric, with USA Christmas stamps on it, from a swap years ago and the stamps are just perfect for helping me make the 2 stockings visually different, I have put the cream backed stamp at the bottom of the cream music fabric to visually increase the size of the cream patch at the same time I have been reduceing the size of the cream patch on the other stocking…The green backed stamp I have put on the green star patch where it keeps the patch green but reduces the intensity of the stars…The red reindeer button matches with the same button on one of the other stockings and I have added a sun button above the train which pairs with the moon charm on another of the stockings.
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Scrunched Ribbon with Beads…I took the sampler photo when it was only half beaded so that you can see how I tack the ribbon on roughly and then go back over and bead it into shape.
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Up and Down Buttonhole Stitch is a stitch that I use frequently since Sharon introduced me to it about the same time that I was making the first 4 stockings, it is a versatile stitch, has a nice flow to it and can be further dressed up with beads.
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The inspiration for this seam treatment comes from the ribbon printed on the fabric, I love how it interacts with the fabric patch, and on my sampler I love the line it forms even without the fabric…I so loved this seam that I decided that it had to go on the second stocking too.
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This seam is a Buttonhole stitch variation and is already on my sampler.
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This snow flake seam is another from one of the original 4 stockings. each snow flake is 6 fly stitches meeting in the middle with a straight stitch in the V of each fly stitch.
On my sampler the white didn’t show out against the cream background so I used different threads for the rest of the row, the silver metallic thread one worked very well.
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 As I was thinking about the embellishments I started to think in the line of making a spot the difference, make the connections type game between these 2 stockings and as I followed those thoughts I realized that I could make links with the other stockings as well, with that thought in mind I printed out A4 size images of the other stockings.
For this first seam I did a train track under the train printed on the fabric and added trees along the track so that it links to the train track on one of the original stockings.
As I stitch each seam I am stitching the same onto my sampler, which will give me a nice little Christmas section on it.
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I started this seam putting seed beads on the arms and central sections of the Cretan Stitch, for the seed beads I made the arms closer together which fits the seed beads but after I started I just didn’t like it, I tried adding another coloured bead to the pattern which was a little better but I so liked how the rice shaped beads worked the other night I still wasn’t happy with this one so I finished mid seam and used the rest of the seam to experiment with Bugle beads which give more shape to the seam and worked much better.
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Last night I put beads onto the arms of the Cretan Stitch, Today I have put beads onto the spaces between the arms.
 I have also taken an in progress photo to show how I put the bead on the thread while stitching the seam…you do need to use a thread that will fit through the eye of a needle that will fit through the hole of the bead…
The black spots in the photo are the pencil spots that I use to mark the position of the stitches when the thread count of the fabric is to many to count.
This photo also shows a finer point of how I form the cretan stitch…You can see that my needle is at a slight angle with the point of the needle coming up a thread width behind where it went in for the end of the arm, the reason I do this is because if I make the stitch straight up from the end of the arm then that next thread pull push the arm thread to the right causing the arm to be on a slight angle and look slightly bent but when the stitch is done at a slight angle as illustrated then it will sit beside the now straight arm thread.
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While visiting Quieter Moments blog earlier today I clicked on her cretan stitch Category and found in there a sample of Cretan stitch with beads umm I hadn’t thought of putting beads on the thread as I worked the cretan stitch, I like this one
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