Make your own Christmas stockings

It's officially Christmas season and my gift to you incredible crafty followers is to share a step-by-step picture tutorial of how I make fully lined Christmas stockings at any size - for you to follow along at your own pace.

They make fantastic gifts and can be easily personalised (which I have done here for my husband and I!)

If you have suggestions about steps I can add or how I can make the below as simple as possible for you please comment on this post below. I love receiving your feedback 😊

What you'll need:

Paper for the pattern (or download the pattern here)
Your main outer fabric (you can use any fabric you like, but if it's your first time I'd recommend a fabric that is mid-weight, nothing to think /bulky and nothing too thin/ slippery).
Your inner fabric (I used a heavy lux linen)
A fluffy fabric (I'm using a boucle style and hoping it won't go out of fashion too fast)
15cm - 30cms lengths of ribbon for hanging, or bias binding or fabric you've sewn into a 1-2 cm wide ribbon
Matching thread
Ruler
Pen/pencil/ texter
Paper scissors
Fabric scissors
Pins
Sewing needle and thread, or sewing machine

Step 1

Download or draw up your own pattern:

To download the FREE pattern, head over to the shop and check out within minutes! then jump ahead to step 2.

To create your own pattern, continue step 1 below:

Decide how long and wide you want the main cylinder of your stocking. This may depend on the size of the fabric you have, so I'd suggest measuring that first to ensure your pattern will fit on your fabric. My measurements were 40cms long and 18cm wide.

*I want to assure you here that it doesn't matter if you've never drawn up a pattern before and it doesn't matter what shape you make it. The instructions will still be the same. You can do this! *

Once I had my 40x 18cm rectangle drawn up I added a 7 x 18 cm rectangle to the bottom left, to act as a guide for the toe extension.

Use that guide to round off the foot by hand, to your liking, and don't forget to round off the heel too. Once you're happy with it cut your stocking pattern.

Your pattern should ideally be slightly bigger than you want, because a hem of 1cm should be Included or can be added after your happy with your pattern.

Now you have your outer and lining pattern complete we'll need to make the fluffy collar pattern. If you aren't adding a collar you can skip this next step and use the same pattern for both the outer and the lining.

Decide how tall you want your fluffy collar. Mine was 12cm, the width will be the width of your stocking opening.

From the top measure down 12cms each side and draw a line across. That's your collar pattern. Cut across that line.

Don't forget to add 1cm hem all the way around the collar.

These are the 2 pattern pieces you should have:

Stocking pattern
Collar pattern

Step 2

Cut your fabric pieces:

Use your stocking pattern to cut 2x inner fabric pieces and 2 x outer stocking pieces.

Make sure to cut 2 opposite pieces.

Use your collar pattern piece to cut 2 x collar linings and 2 x fluffy collar peices.

These are the 9 pieces you should end up with:

2 inner sock
2 outer sock
2 fluffy collar
2 fluffy collar lining
Ribbon

Step 3

Pinning and sewing:

Pin the right (patterned) sides of the outer stocking together and sew in place, leaving the top of the stocking open.

Do the same with the lining, except leave an opening in the heel of the lining - about 3 inches.

I've used a fabric that looks the same on both sides, which makes it harder to mess up.

Pin the fluffy sides of the collar together and sew down both sides.

Do the same with the collar lining.

You can cut nicks into your hem around the curves, which ensures the fabric in the hem can spread out and not restrict the curve.

Step 4

Attaching collar:

Turn your lining stocking right side out. Fold your ribbon in half and pin the hem side to the outer seam of the stocking lining, as seen below.

Put the fluffy collar (fluff facing inwards) round the lining opening -over the ribbon - and pin the top hems together, as seen below. Sew in place.

Now do the same for the outer - turn the outer stocking piece right side out and turn the collar lining inside out. Insert the top of the stocking into the collar lining, matching up the side seams. Pin together around the opening as seen below, and sew in place.