DIY Tutorial: Christmas Stockings!

This year, considering how we're getting an extra-special brand-new addition to our family, I wanted to do something extra-special for our Christmas stockings. (Well, that and because I like to make stuff.)

So I used some materials I had on hand, and whipped up a snazzy tutorial for you all to make this:

{It's SO easy, and it looks SO good!}

Materials:

• Fleece
• Water-soluble marking pen
• Scissors
• Wool felt (acrylic is fine too)
• Sewing pins

Optional: Tissue paper to create a stocking pattern.

Step 1: Lay out your fleece, and double it up so you can cut through two layers at once (makes it quicker). Use your water-soluble pen to draw a stocking shape. (Tip: If you're hesitant to mark directly onto the fleece, draw a pattern onto regular tissue paper, and pin that to your fleece.) Cut out your stocking.

Step 2: Grab your felt, lay it under the stocking, and trace the top of the stocking onto the felt. Before you trace, make sure you like how big the felt piece will be. This will replace that fuzzy white stuff on the traditional stocking. :) Cut out your shape, then trace it onto the remaining felt to make a second piece exactly the same size.

Step 3: Pin the felt pieces to the top of the fleece stockings. Notice I flipped one of my stocking pieces over, so that in the end, the felt will be on the correct outside part of the stocking, front and back. The felt may not fit perfectly, but that doesn't matter as long as it covers the fleece.

Step 4: Sew the top and bottom edge of the felt onto the fleece. Don't worry about the sides.


Step 5: Make snowflakes following this tutorial from The Purl Bee. I used the same felt as for the top of the stocking so the colors would match. I also didn't make mine double-sided since I'd be sewing it directly to to the stocking. Here you see the three snowflakes I made for our three stockings.

Step 6: Find the perfect placement of the snowflake on one of the stocking pieces (whichever you want to be the front) and pin in place.

Step 7: Sew that bad boy on! I just sewed along the 6 branches of the snowflake and didn't worry about all the little bits sticking off. It seemed secure enough with just that.

Step 8: Pin both stocking pieces right-sides together. Sew along all sides except the top, because you want Santa to be able to put in his treats, right? :)

Step 9: Before you flip it right-side out, trim any excess felt off. Otherwise, it'll make your stocking kinda bulky.

Step 10: Cut a long-ish rectangle from your felt. This is for the loop to hang the stocking.

Step 11: Place your rectangle onto the stocking like this, and sew it on, making sure to go over it a couple of times for reinforcement. Now you're done!

Step 12: Iron carefully, and then hang by your tree, fireplace, what-have-you! Here are all three of our stockings, finished and hanging!

Kevin gets the orange one, I get the teal, and our little lady will have the maroon. We each have our own, and they're each slightly different. The snowflakes are all individual and we each get our own color.

Please let me know if you make (or plan to) one of these! It's really not that hard... the most time consuming part is the snowflake, but only if you're obsessive like me and actually use a ruler to make sure each branch is exactly the same (like a true snowflake).

What do you think?