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Christmas Stockings
Brimming with gifts on Christmas morning, beautifully decorated handmade stockings are a delight to wake up to. But they can do much more than hold gifts: Miniature boot-shaped stockings can be used as ornaments for the tree or to decorate a package -- they can even be turned into Advent calendars. Choose the pattern for your stocking from among our templates, or create your own.
Tools and Materials
Felt is a classic Christmas-stocking material, and it's also a pleasure to work with; it won't slip or snag when sewn, and since it never unravels, it doesn't need to be hemmed. If you want decorative edging, you can easily add it to seams and cuffs with pinking shears. A size-fourteen needle and 100-percent-polyester thread give the best results on a sewing machine. Also consider less traditional materials for your stockings: Cashmere stockings adorned with handmade feathered birds are luxurious, and even worn blankets and old sweaters can be given new life as beautiful heirloom stockings.
Christmas Tree Stocking
Trace one of our stocking templates onto two layers of ecru felt; pin the layers together, and sew around the perimeter, using a 1/2-inch seam allowance and leaving the top open. Trim seams with pinking shears. To make the trees, trace our evergreen template onto several shades of green felt. Cut out with scissors, then trim edges with pinking shears. Decorate with vintage glass buttons sewn on with thread in a contrasting color, then tacked onto the stocking with a few stitches. Add a ribbon or felt loop for hanging.
The three felt stockings on this page, all made from the same basic pattern, feature whimsical embellishments.
Monogram Stocking
This stocking has a contrasting back in ecru felt, cut 1 inch wider all around than the front. Cut a monogram from ecru felt, and glue it to the front of the stocking. To make the mock cuff, cut a 7 1/4-inch length of 3-inch-wide satin ribbon and a piece of 4-by-6-inch felt with pinked edges; fold ends of ribbon under ends of felt band, and iron flat. To construct stocking, pin cuff to the front of stocking, pin front of stocking to wide ecru back, and topstitch around the perimeter. Cut out the triangle edge using pinking shears.
Polka Dot Stocking
You'll need several covered buttons in varying sizes (available at fabric stores), plus four contrasting shades of felt. Cover buttons in felt. Cut front and back pieces of stocking from pale-gray felt. Sew covered buttons to front. Topstitch front and back together, sewing 1/4 inch in from edge. To make cuff, center a 15-inch length of 2 1/2-inch-wide velvet ribbon on a 15-by-4-inch rectangle of felt, and topstitch together. Fold in half along the width with velvet side facing in, and sew short ends together. Turn cuff right side out, and place it inside the top of the stocking so its top edge is flush with that of the stocking. Pin cuff to stocking around perimeter of top edge, then stitch. Fold cuff out from inside the stocking; trim bottom edge of cuff and perimeter of stocking with pinking shears before folding cuff down.
Daisy Stocking
Follow instructions for polka-dot stocking, using yellow velvet to cover buttons. Print out our daisy template, and trace it onto white felt; cut five daisies. Cut out front and back of the stocking. Sew buttons through daisy petals and onto front of stocking. Sew front of stocking to back using a zigzag stitch along the edge of the felt. To make the cuff, cut a 15-by-4-inch rectangle of felt, and sew a 1 1/2-inch-wide band of yellow felt along one long side so that 1 inch of it is exposed. Scallop the edge of the yellow band. Turn cuff right side out, and place it inside the top of the stocking so its top edge is flush with that of the stocking. Pin cuff to stocking around perimeter of top edge, then stitch. Fold cuff down.
First Published: December/January 1993/1994