A New Christmas Stocking

Our son lives far away and won’t be here for Christmas. However, he will still need a Christmas stocking. I’m not ready to send off the one he grew up with, so I made  a new one for him.

I chose fabric from my stash. The foot of the stocking is bright red, with whimsical instruments drawn in white. I used this fabric a few years ago as an accent in a quilt made for Son’s best friend. (They were in high school band together. Dan played trumpet (and soccer!) and Son played sax.) The cuff is from a Christmas print, one of the very few I have in stash. The backing is a plain white muslin. The batting was a scrap of some low-loft, low-density polyester, and it gives it just enough padding.

First I quilted the fabric with my long-arm. It’s probably just as easy to use your DSM, or even buy pre-quilted fabric if you find one you like.

Then I traced around my pattern, drawn using the stocking he got as a baby. The pattern has a seam allowance included. It isn’t very exact but for approximation’s sake, let’s say the seam allowance is 1/2″.

I drew and cut out two. Remember you need two sides to the stocking, and the foot needs to face both ways.

To keep the edges corralled, I stitched quickly around the edges of each part separately. Then I pinned them, right sides together. Using my walking foot, I stitched around, leaving the top open.

Then next step was to create a cuff. I decided how deep I wanted it (4.5″), doubled that (9″), and added an inch (10″). The inch was the seam allowance for both edges that would attach to the top edge of the stocking. I cut the piece 10″ deep. I also needed to know how long to make it. Honesty: this was a bit of fudging. What worked fine was using the width of the finished stocking, doubling it, and adding something like 3/4″. Because the cuff needs to fit around the stocking, you need a little extra leeway. Then I sewed my cuff along the 10″ edges, right sides together, to make a tube. The seam allowance here is probably a fat 1/4″. As I said, I fudged a little.

I turned the cuff and folded it to make a tube half as deep, with right side of fabric on the outside. I pressed the fold edge all the way around. Then I tucked a piece of batting into the folded tube to give the cuff a little poof. You could skip that if you prefer.

With the stocking turned inside out, I pinned the cuff to open edge of the INSIDE of the stocking.

Again using my walking foot, I stitched the cuff down around the top edge, back-stitching at the beginning and end to secure. Once turned right-side out, the cuff lies nicely around the top. Finally, I used a piece of grosgrain ribbon to create a loop, attaching it with zigzag stitching.

Here is the finished stocking, featuring Son’s first Christmas present from Santa. Next to it on the right is his original stocking, which served as the model.