While everyone else was buying Halloween candy or costumes last week, six women set up Hereford's version of Santa's workshop.

The assembly line they set up at Hereford Curves on Mount Carmel Road doesn't churn out toys. The local women are making Christmas stockings for American troops.

They've made 65 during three workshops. Each workshop produces a few dozen more.

"We're doing this for a group called Operation Care Package and they want to send 10,000 stockings to the troops for the holidays," said Dottie Franks of Parkton, who got the sewing workshop started.

The six seamstresses know each other from exercising at Curves. When Franks put up a sign at Curves asking for donations of extra material to make stockings, she not only received boxes of fabric and trimmings, but volunteers as well.

Since Curves is closed from noon to 3 p.m. on weekdays, they set up shop each Wednesday during those hours. Linda Silhan of Upperco and Linda Robertson of Parkton bring in their sewing machines. Others bring irons and ironing boards, scissors, needles and thread.

"I really don't use the sewing machines, so I do the hand-sewing," said Curves owner Kris Reilly of Cockeysville as she stitched jingle bells onto a green felt stocking.

Robertson specializes in appliqué. Today, she uses her sewing machine to outline a reindeer face onto several stockings made of light brown corduroy. She uses red and brown print fabric for its antlers, tan for its face, and glues on a red fuzz ball for its nose. The stockings then receive cuffs of red and black plaid material.

Dolores Bennett of Freeland is busy cutting out squares of fabric imprinted with green holly leaves. They will be appliquéd onto red felt stockings.

Laura Pawlak, who lives in Parkton, said the Christmas stocking project has made her want to get back into sewing again.

The stockings, either 11 or 16 inches long, are as varied as the donated material. There are plenty of Christmas themes, such as reindeer, pine trees, Santa, presents. But then there are stockings made of nonholiday motifs, like bright red lobsters, colored billiard balls, dollar bills, roses and cowboys.

Some stockings get white furry cuffs. Others are trimmed in tassels. But all receive individual attention.

"We try to make each one unique," Franks said.

Franks heard about Operation Care Package when she shopped at Stitches Etc. Home Center in Timonium.

"My husband and I were both in the Army, and we're trying to get our customers involved in some sort of a charity organization, so this was perfect," said Emily Kolasa, who owns Stitches Etc. with her husband, John.

In addition to Christmas stockings, which will be stuffed with goodies by the nonprofit Operation Care Package, the organization is asking people to make drawstring bags that troops will use to hold toiletry items.

Kolasa said her store has already sent 1,000 drawstring bags and has collected several hundred stockings.

The Hereford stockings will soon be on their way to Joliet, Ill., and from there they'll be stuffed and shipped to servicemen and women serving abroad.

Anyone interested in helping with North County's stocking project can e-mail herefordcurves@verizon.net.

For more details about the entire care package program, go to www.operationcarepackages.org.

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