King Charles' old curtains have been turned into Christmas stockings

The Dumfries House Sewing Bee worked on the project and 24 of the stockings will be part of the King's Foundation's 12 Days of Christmas sale, which begins on Monday (01.12.25), with the final one, number 25, given to the king himself as a Christmas present from the charity.

Bids for the stockings start at £250.

This is the third year in a row that curtains from royal residences have been upcycled for a good cause.

In 2023, furnishings from Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle were turned into luxury kimonos, with the offcuts then used last year to create eight footstools by students and community groups working with the King's Foundation.

The fabric had been lying unused in storage after being collected during clear-outs over the decades.

According to the Daily Telegraph, the age, design and fabric of the curtains used to make the stockings means they are believed to have once hung in one of Sandringham's "significant" rooms, such as a living room.

Each stocking took more than six hours to make using techniques and skills including hand embroidery, piping, and seam matching, and they are all individually numbered.

Sarah McClymont, lead tutor for the King's Foundation's Future Textiles initiative, said: "This was such an exciting project for the Sewing Bee to work on. Being given the opportunity to work with such historically significant fabric was a real honour for them and they are so proud of how the stockings turned out.

"The Sewing Bee transforming the Sandringham curtains into 25 luxury Christmas stockings really demonstrates The King's Foundation's commitment to craftsmanship, responsible design, and sustainable fashion and textiles.

"We hope that whoever is lucky enough to win one of the stockings at auction will pass it down as a family heirloom to be treasured for decades to come."

A spokesperson for the King's Foundation - which runs courses for people to learn practical heritage skills - previously confirmed it had been "very much the king's idea to use the curtains".

They added: "He found out about the material and said, 'Right, this can definitely be put to good use'."