17 Days of crafting until Christmas… (Make Your Own Christmas Stockings)

Today I’m finishing up Christmas stockings for my sister and her family.

First I sketched out and cut a template on posterboard of an ample sized stocking and two snowflake designs.

Be careful not to cut too much detail into the snowflakes, because it really won’t translate well on the felt.

Now trace your pattern onto red (or color of your choosing) using a piece of chalk, for the body of the stocking.

And trace your snowflakes on a contrasting color (I used cream) using a disappearing marking pen. I fit three of my snowflakes on each stocking.

Now get busy and cut it all out!

Use a pair of pinking shears to cut the bottom edge of the contrasting  color felt for the top band of the stocking and pin into place to sew to the top of the body (I make mine around three inches or so, just eye whatever looks best proportionally to your stocking).

Stitch into place across top and bottom edges of the band. I used a straight stitch on the top of the stocking and a zig-zag for the pinked edge.

Once those are on all your stocking it is time to add the snowflakes (or which ever shape you chose). I pin them into the spots I want and then use a straight stitch to sew them down, it doubles as a decoration so if you have metallic thread that would be a great addition!

They’ll look like this:

Repeat until all your decorative elements are stitched into place. I save all my thread snipping until the end. Here’s my pile:

After you’ve cleaned up all the snipped threads pin a front to a back for each stocking.

Don’t forget to pin in something to hang them with! (I have skipped this part before, oops) I used twill tape.

Then stitch together along the edge. I used a straight stitch. Leave about 1/4inch edge, but don’t worry too much about it because you’ll trim it down and neaten it up at the very end. DO NOT STITCH THE TOP EDGE TOGETHER 😉

Once they are all stitched together go grab some glitter glue and personalize them!

All done, now sit back and enjoy your handy work. If you are crazy you can add more details like blanket stitching around the edge or embroidery on the body. They look great simple though!

Do you hang stockings? Ours are hung on the mantle of our fireplace in our homeschool/family room. One thing our children are certain to find in their stockings is a piece of fruit, a clementine (an apple for my lone citrus disliker)!

Need a template? Here’s mine:

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Do you have any special traditions for your stockings?