I've been playing! Specifically with Christmas stockings. I've made three today. They are quite plain as they have very rich fabrics.
One is a black jacquard polycotton curtain fabric. I gave it a curly, pointy yoe with a gold bell on, and some rich gold and black braid round the top. I think it's a Christmas Stocking for a pirate captain!
Another is a sort of kahki-ish, greenish swamp colour... This is a poly jacquard with tulip-like things woven into it. Auntie Mo Next Door didn't think it looked Christmassy at all, but I gave it a band of deep red velvet ribbon and some gold piping and a gold bell. Now it's suitably Christmassy!
The last one is a gold 100% silk curtain fabric, with a silver leafy abstract sparse print on it... I gave it a silver and black braid band, a silver tassel, and a silver bell.
Now, as this gold fabric was all silk, and originally VERY expensive, I thought I'd do the decent thing and dig out some silk thread to sew it with... What I found in the thread stash was a pale gold silk thread, made in Japan. The brand is 'KINKAME'. This is the nicest thread I have ever put through any machine - bar none! The reel is black plastic and has 100m on it. I have googled for them, and the company does still exist, but the site was all in Japanese characters! I'm looking for a UK postal or world wide on-line supplier, so if you know who carries this thread, please tell me! I have emailed Kinkame and asked them who sells their thread outside Japan, but I have high hopes you lot will get back to me more quickly!
I'm posting this message in several groups and forums in the hope that the wider audience will benefit us all!