Christmas Craft: How to Make Shabby Chic Christmas Stockings

by CariThompson on November 28th, 2018 | No Comments »

I thought I would get a head start on some Christmas crafts so all my Christmas decor would be ready to go the day after Thanksgiving. So I started my search for new ideas on Pinterest, of course. I found these super cute burlap shabby chic Christmas stockings and knew I must make them, especially since they cost around $70 a piece (Yikes!). I was able to get the same look for less than $10.

How to Make Shabby Chic Christmas Stockings

I made some changes to the stocking to keep the cost down and to make the sewing process a little easier (I substituted burlap with linen since I couldn’t find a color I liked and linen is a little easier to work with).

Supplies:

Here are the supplies you'll need to make shabby chic Christmas stockings.

Linen or burlap (For two stockings, I needed less than a yard.)
Felt (I used felt as the lining for stability.)
Accent color fabrics (You can either buy the little square swatches or about an 1/8 of a yard. I got white, red, green, and blue fabrics.)
Twine
Embellishments
Sewing machine
Thread

Directions for Boy Stocking:

1. Using an old stocking, make a pattern for your stocking.
2. Cut out your linen and felt using your pattern. I cut the linen about a ½ inch outside of the pattern for a seam allowance and cut the felt right along the pattern so it would fit perfectly into the linen stocking once sewn.
3. With right sides together, sew your linen stocking pieces together, keeping the top open. Repeat with the felt pieces. Is there a right side to felt? Whatever.
4. Turn your linen stocking right side out. Slip your felt stocking inside (without turning it right side out). By doing this, you won’t be able to feel the seams inside your stocking.

5. Make the top of the stocking. When deciding on the length of the top section of your stocking, make sure to allow for a seam and a little extra so it will fit loosely over your stocking. I chose to do stripes in red, white, and green with a little bit of frayed linen popping out between the stripes so it didn’t look like the Italian flag. ☺

6. Once you’ve finished the top strip of your stocking, turn your linen/felt stocking inside out so the felt is on the outside. Pin your top strip of your stocking to the felt and linen. Sew the stocking and strip together. Note: I only sewed along the flat side of the stocking so the strip to lay loosely on the edges of the stocking.
7. Sew the edge of the top strip closed.
8. Embellish your stocking. I sewed wood buttons to the top of mine and hung a wood letter with twine instead of writing the full name on the stocking.
9. Attach twine to the top of your stocking for the hook.

Directions for Girl Stocking:

1. Repeat steps 1 and 2 from above.

2. Cut out fabric strips for your ruffles. Make your strips 3 times longer than the width of your stocking. For example, the opening of my stocking was 6 inches wide, so I cut strips of fabric 18 inches long.
3. Hem your fabric strips.
4. Pin your fabric stips directly to the right side of your linen stocking pieces. I chose to do ruffles on the front and back. Note: I pinned the ruffles into the strips, but you can gather them using a zig-zag stitch on your sewing machine, then pin them to your stocking. It’s up to you.
5. Sew the gathered fabric onto your linen stocking pieces. Note: Make sure the placement of your ruffles line up on both your stocking pieces before you sew the ruffles on.

6. Once your ruffles are sewn on, sew your two linen stocking pieces together with right sides together. Turn your stocking right side out.
7. Sew your felt pieces together. Slide your felt stocking into your linen stocking. (See step 4 from the boy stocking above.)
8. Fold the extra linen at the top of your stocking over into the stocking. Sew the linen to the felt. Again, I only sewed along the flat side of the stocking as the felt stocking was smaller in diameter than the linen stocking.
9. Embellish your shabby chic Christmas stocking. I hand-sewed a clump of red berries to the top and hung a wood letter with twine to the front of my stocking instead of writing my full name.
10. Attach twine to the top of your stocking for the hook.

Do you make homemade stockings for your family? How do you personalize them?

Cari Thompson—the artist formerly known as Cari Stewart—is a wife, copywriter, online marketer, and blogger. She currently lives in the mommy blogger space as an editor, SEO specialist, and account manager. Her three greatest accomplishments: beating Super Mario 3 in one night without a whistle, drumming for tens of people, and licking an ice sculpture at the Versace Mansion. Check her out at caristewart.com, dougandcari.com, LinkedIn, and Twitter.