Making your own Christmas stocking from an old fabric remnant is a lovely way to create a memento you'll be proud to display year after year. If you have a measure of old fabric that might be too damaged or worn for a big project (such as the rich, red damask that Martha uses), you'll be able to transform it into an appropriately sized repository for sugarplums and baubles in no time.

Tools and Materials
Paper and pencil
Tailor's chalk
Scissors
Fabric remnant
Pins
8-inch piece of ribbon

Red Damask Stocking How-To
1. Make a template in the shape of a stocking, and trace it onto the fabric with tailor's chalk. Cut out two pieces of fabric. If possible, use the border of the fabric as the top of the stocking. Pin the right sides together.

2. Begin sewing the two pieces together, starting at the base of the border. Sew around the stocking, leaving a 1/4-inch seam allowance and leaving the top of the stocking open; stop at the base of the border on the other side.

3. Cut a notch into the seam allowance just above where you started and stopped sewing. Turn the stocking right side out, and press. Stitch both sides of the cuff, leaving a 1/4-inch seam allowance, down to the notch. Press the cuff edge under 1/4 inch, then 1/4 inch again, and pin in place. Sew around the edge, leaving a 1/4-inch seam allowance.

4. To create a loop, hand-stitch the 8-inch piece of ribbon to the back seam of the stocking, and press.

Resources
The red damask used in this segment can be found at the Vintage Chest.
P.O. Box 152
Brimfield, MA 01010
413-245-3551
Email: cag1455@aol.com