Christmas Stocking Tutorial

The time has come- no more slacking! My weekly tutorials start NOW- so come back next week for an Advent calender tutorial!

First you need to pick out some cute fabric! I chose a flannel. This is a cute choice, but the edges all need to be zig zagged because if you ever wash them they will fray like crazy! A cute cotton woven would be super cute too! 1 yard of fabric can make 3 stockings for sure, but most likely 4! So get at least enough of the main sock fabric and then get half that much of the top cuff fabric. Make sure if you ever plan to expand your family that you buy extra fabric- that would be sad for a future child not to have one! (Or you could just make new ones every couple years!)

First off- find a stocking that you think is the perfect size. Dont have one? If you want it bigger, decide how much bigger and divide it by 2 and cut that much extra all the way around. Want it smaller, do the same thing but cut inside the pattern. (Who would want a SMALLER stocking though?!?) If you dont have a stocking you think will work, go check out my friend Bonnie's awesome tutorial- she has a GREAT template that is perfect size! (All of her patterns are fabulous and she is a total doll! I would recomend anything she sells!)

This is the absolute hardest part! You need to cut a cuff piece that is approximately 1/2 inch larger than the top of your stocking. You want to measure how thick you might want the cuff part and then double it plus about 1/2 inch also so that when you fold it in half so the raw edges are hidden it will be perfect! You also want to have a fold so that there is only 1 seam in the top cuff part. Hopefully you can sort of see how I cut- mine was about 1 inch too big! Better safe than sorry because you can trim it down before you sew, but it gets kind of confusing and scary! lol. its ok though, you use so little fabric that if you screw up it is ok!
Now you are ready to sew! Be SEW excited! :)
fold your 6 inches of ribbon in half and place it about 1 inch above the bottom of the seam of the cuff part. This will be your hook part and you dont want it to catch in your seam, so make sure it is at least 1/3 inch above the raw edge. Now you will sew a straight seam and a zig zag edge making sure to catch both piece of the raw edge of ribbon in the seam so it is secure to hang!Sew a straight line and then zig zag the edges around the whole sock piece of the stocking, obviosly you will not sew the straight opening end.....

Now to put on the top trim. You want to fold it in half and mark the half point with a pin, as well as the seam side. These will match up with the seams of the sock. Make sure the seam part of the top (the side with the ribbon) is on the straighter edge of the stocking because it will hang weird if you put it on the foot part side. Make sure the ribbon piece of the top is also touching the right side of the fabric so that when you fold it out it will be showing and not tucked inside! Pin the pinned sides to the side seams of the sock. Now sew a straight line being sure not to catch the ribbon in your seam! Zig zag the edge.

You are done! Make sure to zig zag all your seams if you havnt already! Turn it right side out and admire your work! You can iron the seams down if you want, or not- it is up to you!
Here they are! Arnt they cute?
Now all you need is to embroider some names on there! I always drawn on the names in White crayon and then trace them with the embroidery thread- easiest way!

Wallah! I set them on the counter and im waiting for DH to say something about them... we will see how long it takes! :)