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Old curtains The royal residence of Sandringham House has been given a new life, transformed into a festive Christmas Stockings for a charity auction.
A dedicated sewing bee carefully reused the luxurious fabric, creating 25 unique stockings ahead of the festive season.
Skilled members of the sewing bee work from Dumfries House, another stately home with royal connections ayrshireScotland.
Meeting weekly, the group has worked carefully on the Sandringham material over recent months, transforming it into special items for a charitable cause.
Twenty-four of the individually numbered stockings are now being auctioned off to raise vital funds for the King’s Foundation, while the final stocking is believed to be a Christmas gift for the King himself.
Each piece requires more than six hours of intricate work, with sewing members using traditional techniques such as hand embroidery, piping and precise seam matching.
The King’s Foundation, headquartered at Dumfries House, is dedicated to providing opportunities for individuals to acquire practical heritage skills.
The sewing bee, which has been in residence since 2016, is one of the charity’s key initiatives. Reflecting the Foundation’s broader work, Sewing Bee’s activities strongly emphasize sustainability.
Christine Wilson, 72, and Andrea Middlemiss, 63, both from the nearby town of Cumnock, are testament to the influence of the bee, having never sewn before joining the Dumfries House group.
Ms Wilson, a retired finance executive, joined at its inception, with café worker Ms Middlemiss signing on six months later.
“It’s been absolutely wonderful,” Ms Wilson commented. “Sewing has a great atmosphere, a great group of friends, and we do a lot for charity too.
“We’ve worked on a lot of different ideas over the years, and we’ve also learned a lot from the tutors that are here. They’ve been excellent. It’s a great community-based organization.”
Ms Middlemiss, who discovered the sewing bee online, said: “I really wanted to get involved.
“I didn’t know how to sew a thing (in the beginning) and I’ve really enjoyed it and I’ve learned a lot from the teachers. We’ve made lots of different things – dresses, jackets, and done a lot for charity along the way, and of course stockings.”
He expressed his pride in the latest project, saying: “It’s an honor to do this. Because of the curtains, because of where they came from and the story behind them and the idea that they’ve been hanging in this castle for God knows how long for goodness sake.”
The bee’s head tutor, Sarah McClymont, 31, described stocking-making as an “exciting project” for members.
She commented, “It was a real honor for her to be given the opportunity to work with such a historically significant fabric and she is very proud of how these stockings came to be.”
“The sewing bees that transformed Sandringham curtains into 25 luxury Christmas stockings really demonstrate the King’s Foundation’s commitment to craftsmanship, responsible design and sustainable fashion and textiles,” Ms McClymont said.
“We hope that whoever is lucky enough to win one of the stockings in the auction will cherish it as a family heirloom for decades to come.”
The King’s Foundation’s 2025 Christmas Charity Auction is currently open and will end on Friday, December 12 at 5pm.
More information can be found here https://uk.givergy.com/kings-foundationauction/,