How to Make Christmas Stockings

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Learn how to make Christmas stockings with this easy tutorial! It’s a perfect project for beginner or intermediate crafters, and the final product is a family heirloom that your kids can keep forever. Read on for the DIY!

How to Make a Lined Christmas Stocking with a Knit Cuff
How to Make a Lined Christmas Stocking with a Knit Cuff
How to Make a Lined Christmas Stocking with a Knit Cuff

I have been meaning to make stockings for my kiddos since they were born, and years later we finally made it happen! We have been using random stockings here and there every year, but now I finally figured out how to make Christmas stockings that will be theirs forever.

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Unlined Vs. Lined Christmas STockings

I wanted to make something really special and sturdy quality that would last a lifetime. In planning the construction I was wanting to create lined stockings, because unlined Christmas stockings are a little more flimsy and thin.

Initially I thought the lined stocking would be too much of a sewing challenge but as it turns out, it’s a pretty basic project! Just takes some careful cutting and a little forethought. But we’ve laid it all out for you so it should be a snap!

A Meaningful Way to Personalize Handmade Christmas Stockings

I wanted these to have a little history, so I lined them with some fabric from my late grandmother’s collection that I’ve been holding onto for something special. Adding some fabric that is sentimental to you is a really meaningful way to personalize a handmade Christmas stocking.

And as for the knit cuffs, they look fancy but they’re really just thrifted wool sweaters! So you don’t actually have to knit a thing. This can actually be a really cost-effective project if you hunt down the right resources. So let’s make these!

For another really lovely way to personalize stockings, check out our monogrammed stocking idea here.

How to Make Christmas STockings

Materials

  • old knit sweater
  • fabric for stocking (we used gold-flecked fleece and felt)
  • fabric for lining
  • sewing machine and accessories
  • thread
  • scissors
  • paper
  • pen
  • trim for stocking loop
  • pins

Make Time: 1 Hour Per Stocking

Sew the Stocking

  1. Cut out your stocking shape on a piece of paper. You can trace an existing one and add 1/2″ on all sides, or just draw a shape that you like.
  2. Cut out your paper stocking. Trace it onto your liner fabric and your stocking fabric. Cut out two pieces of the stocking shape for the liner and two for the stocking. (You can stack and cut two pieces at a time.)
  3. Sew your lining. Put right sides together and sew around all edges except for the top, leaving a 3″ gap unsewn in one side of the stocking so that you can turn it right side out at the end. Leave the liner wrong-side-out.
  4. Sew your stocking. Put right sides together and sew all around the edges except for the top. Turn this right-side-out.
How to Make a Lined Christmas Stocking with a Knit Cuff

Create the Cuff

  1. Cut your cuff. We used thrifted wool sweaters that we washed to felt them slightly. For the cuff, cut it twice as wide as the top of your stocking, plus 1/2″, and twice as tall as you’d like the cuff, plus 1/2″. This piece is 10″ x 17.5″, for a stocking that’s 8.5″ wide at the top.
  2. Fold the cuff so that the short ends are together, right sides facing, and stitch the edge.
  3. Fold the cuff right side out and align the unfinished edges. Slip the stocking up inside the cuff and align all unfinished edges. Fold your trim for the stocking loop in half and align those unfinished edges as well, on the side opposite from the toe of the stocking.
How to Make a Lined Christmas Stocking with a Knit Cuff
How to Make a Lined Christmas Stocking with a Knit Cuff

Connect the STocking and Cuff

  1. Slip all of this inside the lining of the stocking, which should still be inside out. Align all unfinished edges (lining, then trim, then two layers of cuff, then stocking, and pin).
  2. Sew around the top of all these layers, being sure that the stitches go through each layer all around the top of the stocking.
  3. Pull the stocking and cuff through the gap in the lining. Stitch the gap in the lining on the sewing machine and tuck the lining into the stocking. Ta-daaaaaa!
How to Make a Lined Christmas Stocking with a Knit Cuff
How to Make a Lined Christmas Stocking with a Knit Cuff
How to Make a Lined Christmas Stocking with a Knit Cuff

Decorate your Handmade Christmas Stockings

Now decorate them any which way you like! Henry asked for jingle bells on his, so we made a little hanger that had jingle bells and pompoms, just for fun.

I wanted the stockings to tie into the ones that we already had, so we went with an all-cream color palette and decorations that can be changed out with each year, in case the kids’ tastes change or the colors of our decorations change over time.

Here’s a tutorial on how I did the letters to personalize the stockings.

Seeing these lined up with our others just makes me smile! Santa, we’re ready for you! xoxo

How to Make a Lined Christmas Stocking with a Knit Cuff
How to Make a Lined Christmas Stocking with a Knit Cuff

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How to Make a Lined Christmas Stocking with a Knit Cuff

How to Make Christmas Stockings

Yield: Christmas Stockings
Active Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour
Difficulty: Intermediate
Estimated Cost: $15

Learn how to make Christmas stockings for your whole family with this simple sewing DIY tutorial.

Materials

  • Fabric for stocking and liner
  • Old knit sweaters
  • Needle, thread, etc.
  • Paper
  • Pen
  • Trim

Tools

  • Scissors
  • Sewing Machine

Instructions

    1. Cut out your stocking shape on a piece of paper. You can trace an existing one and add 1/2" on all sides, or just draw a shape that you like.
    2. Cut out your paper stocking. Trace it onto your liner fabric and your stocking fabric. Cut out two pieces of the stocking shape for the liner and two for the stocking. (You can stack and cut two pieces at a time.)
    3. Sew your lining. Put right sides together and sew around all edges except for the top, leaving a 3" gap unsewn in one side of the stocking so that you can turn it right side out at the end. Leave the liner wrong-side-out.
    4. Sew your stocking. Put right sides together and sew all around the edges except for the top. Turn this right-side-out.
    5. Cut your cuff. We used thrifted wool sweaters that we washed to felt them slightly. For the cuff, cut it twice as wide as the top of your stocking, plus 1/2", and twice as tall as you'd like the cuff, plus 1/2". This piece is 10" x 17.5", for a stocking that's 8.5" wide at the top.
    6. Fold the cuff so that the short ends are together, right sides facing, and stitch the edge.
    7. Fold the cuff right side out and align the unfinished edges. Slip the stocking up inside the cuff and align all unfinished edges. Fold your trim for the stocking loop in half and align those unfinished edges as well, on the side opposite from the toe of the stocking.
    8. Slip all of this inside the lining of the stocking, which should still be inside out. Align all unfinished edges (lining, then trim, then two layers of cuff, then stocking, and pin).
    9. Sew around the top of all these layers, being sure that the stitches go through each layer all around the top of the stocking.
    10. Pull the stocking and cuff through the gap in the lining. Stitch the gap in the lining on the sewing machine and tuck the lining into the stocking. Ta-daaaaaa!

Notes

I wanted these to have a little history, so I lined them with some fabric from my late grandmother's collection that I've been holding onto for something special. Adding some fabric that is sentimental to you is a really meaningful way to personalize a handmade Christmas stocking.

And as for the knit cuffs, they look fancy but they're really just thrifted wool sweaters! So you don't actually have to knit a thing. This can actually be a really cost-effective project if you hunt down the right resources. So let's make these!

For another really lovely way to personalize stockings, check out our monogrammed stocking idea here.

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8 Comments

  1. In planning the construction I was wanting to create lined stockings because unlined Christmas stockings are a little more flimsy and thin. A beautiful treasure that’s so much easier than I thought it would be. I wanted the stockings to tie into the ones that we already had, so we went with an all-cream color palette and decorations.

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