Easy DIY Christmas stockings

This is not the first time I have made DIY Christmas stockings. But the last time, I was making them for my family it said, “Mom, Dad, Deb and Deneen” so it was a few years ago 🙂 I still have mine, and maybe my sister does too. Sage doesn’t care she just thinks it  tastes good.

Over the last few years, I have been  looking for stockings that I like enough to buy for the whole family And by the family I mean Greg – the boyfriend,  Sage -the dog, Angus – the cat, and Me… the boss 🙂

I managed to find a pretty cool kitty stocking for Angus, back in the days when we still had Zellers (All you Canadians will remember my favourite long lost department store)…sniff.

Click here for the DIY post to make this kitty stocking

I wanted my stocking to be bright white, clean and simple! I think I achieved it 🙂

PS – Click here to see the post for the buffet that the stocking is hanging on

Here is how you can make these too!

Supplies

These are my estimates for supplies: per stocking:

• fabric – 22″ x 22″
• fur trim – 22″
• edging trim -45″
• Iron-on Letters (dependent on names)
• thread

Don’t worry about a pattern, just use a stocking that you like the shape of, and use this as your template. I used this one:

You could just trace around the stocking, but I made a template from newsprint, because I wanted to make the toe a little rounder. If you want a template for your stocking go to my Member’s lounge, and use the one I have there, under the cat stocking pattern.

You can use whatever type and colour/pattern of fabric that you want! They don’t have to be white like mine. I prefer using quilted fabric, it’s easier to work with and the stockings hold their shape when they are hanging off of the mantle. If you decide to use silky or lacy fabric, I would suggest attaching it to a backing fabric first. Just lay it over one piece and edge stitch them together, before putting the front and back of the stocking together. It will help to keep it’s shape, and make it much easier to work with.

Use tailor’s chalk to trace the shapes out on your fabric. This way if you make a mistake it will just brush off.

Trace the outline of the stockings onto your fabric and then just fold it over to get both sides of your DIY Christmas stocking. Pin it inside the chalk lines. Cut through all thicknesses to get both sides of your stocking. You will need sharp scissors! If this doesn’t work well, just trace more shapes and cut them out singly.

Personalization

Before sewing anything together, put the letters onto the stockings. If you have a sewing machine that does embroidery, you can just embroider your names onto the stockings. But if you don’t, then just use iron on letters like I did. This is easy and they look good. Plus you can get them with glitter or rhinestones! Yes!

When shopping for your letters, spell out all of the names you will be doing, and count out the letters

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  See the blue chalk line that I used to line up the letters. It just brushes off when you are finished.

If you have names with a lot of the same letter, you might need to take this into account when picking letters, as some of them have more of one letter than others. for example we needed 4 g’s, and some of the letters only had 1 in each pack, so that would require 4 packages. The ones that I chose had 2 g”s, so it only required 2 packages. But hey, if you have your heart set on specific letters, just go for it. We are building family heirlooms here 🙂

I just used my tailor’s chalk to draw a line down 6′  down from the top of the stocking. Put your fur trim up to see where it comes to, and then decide where you want your names to go.

The letters that I used were iron on “Transfermations” I bought them at Michael’s.  They worked very well. Just follow the instructions on the package. They are a bit “grippy” so once you get them into place, I just placed the cardboard from the package on top of them and pushed on it, to stick them down a bit before ironing. Also, since you will be using a pressing cloth, just tack them lightly to start, and double check the alignment before securing them firmly.

You can use whatever type of letters works for your aesthetic Here are some options.

                                              

Sewing

Time to sew our DIY Christmas stockings!! No inside out sewing for these stockings. Just lay them  wrong sides together, right sides out and use an edge stitch to sew them together. This will help to keep the bulk down when you are adding your trim.

Trials and Tribulations

I had my fair share of first world  problems this week. My go to fabric store – Fabricland, was closed for renovations. So, I waited a week for it to re-open. Then when it did, it had a 75% off sale!!! and I left with a spool of thread… Never fails. Then 2 days later, my 30 year old Janome sewing machine finally packed it in. That puppy was a work horse!! This is very similar to my new sewing machine.

Next step is to sew on the trim. Make sure that you buy Double Fold Bias Tape  or similar edging that has a finished edge.

You don’t want to muck around with ironing over seam finishes. Just fold the edging over the edge and sew whatever stitch makes you happy 🙂 I went with a version of a scallop stitch like this:

Just keep working your way around the stocking in one continuous piece. Once you get to the end keep using your fancy stitch for another 1-3 inches, and then fold this over to make a loop to hang the stocking by.

Fur it up

I should probably get my cat to help out here. He is very good at furring things up. For that matter so is the dog! The last piece is to add the fur trim. measure the diameter of the top of the stocking and add about 1/2′ for seam allowances. Sew the fur right sides together, and push the fur in so it isn’t “caught” in the seam. Then turn right side out, and pin it to the top edge of the stocking. Use matching thread and an edge stitch to attach it to the stocking.

You will need to sew it “flat: where the seam binding is. It will not look right if you fold the seam allowance on the edge of the stocking over.

And that is it, YOU ARE DONE!!! Well, except you may need to make a couple more 🙂 You could also affix something fun to them as well. Maybe something special for each member of the family? For mine, I wanted them to be “clean and classy” So, I am leaving them as is.

Stuff with fabulous gifts, and you are ready for SANTA!!!!

or the kitty, who knows that this is his stocking

Now go ahead and personalize these DIY Christmas stockings for your family.

If you are looking for a cat specific. stocking, check out these really cute DIY Stockings for your cat, or your favourite cat person:)

 

 

 

 

 

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