By Margaret Frymire
Journal Intern
This Christmas, Cahaba Heights resident Laurel Patrick is offering a new way to add unique decorations to your mantelpiece. As the owner and operator of Couture Christmas, Laurel hand-sews and sells her own line of luxury holiday stockings.
A graduate of Southern Institute, Laurel has been an interior designer for many years, the past 12 of which she has been self-employed.
Four years ago, Laurel began looking through all her scraps and sample trim and fabrics. She decided she either needed to pitch them or make something creative out of the leftover pieces.
Having searched for stockings for her mantle and dissatisfied with the available market options, Laurel decided to sew her own.
She made the first stockings out of her leftover materials, which is where most of her one-of-a-kind stockings come from. The next year, Laurel decided she wanted to make the stockings into a product and launched Couture Christmas.
“I wanted to do more with it because I really enjoy sewing, so I decided to make a running line, which is 12 stockings in traditional colors and home interior colors,” she said.
The running line stockings come in traditional holiday colors of scarlet red, antique green, silver and white as well as the home interior colors of beige, black and brown.
Each stocking is hand-sewn by Laurel out of a combination of fabrics and materials, including velvet, silk, taffeta, fur and damask.
Laurel said the stockings have a whimsy-meets-luxury look.
There are 12 different styles of stockings in the current line, each one designed and sewn by Laurel. The designer also has one-of-a-kind stockings for sale; they’re made of unique fabrics and prints unlike the rest, she said.
All the stockings are both functional and decorative. The foot of each stocking is stuffed for better visual appeal, but starting at the ankle it can hold the usual Christmas treats and presents, she said.
“From start to finish, it takes four and half hours to make one stocking,” Laurel said. “It’s very labor intensive, but there is lots of love in every stitch.”
The stockings range from $140 to $160, depending on the fabrics used. The fur stockings, in either Russian fox or Mongolian lamb, are $160.
Laurel said she also does custom orders in addition to her current line. She sells her stockings on her website and recently showcased her stockings at an art show in Atlanta.
Laurel said she has received orders from around the country, including Texas and California, and hopes to double her sales this season.
“I can really market them to anyone because they fit in a range of décor from something traditional to something modern,” said Laurel.
To see more of Laurel’s work or to order a stocking for your mantel this Christmas, visit her website, www.couturechristmas.com.
