Little back story here… Growing up, we had these adorable handmade stockings with our names embroidered on them that my great grandma made for us.

I was born in early December and she even got a stocking made for me in time for my first Christmas! –My name was spelled wrong cause in the hurry of it all, she got the wrong info, but to this day, my mom hangs them up, misspelling and all, and I love them.

So when I had my first baby a few years ago I knew that for our first Christmas as a family, I wanted to have handmade stockings of our own (that hopefully will have a lot of sentimental value to my kids one day.)

So I made these DIY Christmas stockings for us, and last year added one more for my little mister. I just love how much personality they have! I love any excuse to mix fun fabrics together.

Now, I am no master when it comes to sewing, in fact I’m self and you tube taught. So if I can do this project, you can too. Trust me, the hardest part will be deciding which  amazingly fun fabrics you’ll use.

DIY Stocking Template

After you’ve decided on some fabrics you can download and print out the template for the stockings here.

Then cut out the template pieces and tape together where necessary.

Cutting the pieces of your Christmas stockings

Once you have your template all ready to go, you’ll cut fabric for the outer boot, the lining of the boot, the topper, and the loop.

You’ll also need batting (not too thick) for the boot and the topper as well.

Pin your template paper to your fabric and cut out the outer boot pieces. **You’ll need 2 of these pieces, but it is best to cut them out separately. Do the first one with the writing on the template facing up, and the second one with the writing on the template facing down, so the right side of the fabric will be on the outside of your finished stocking.

Now, with the boot template again cut 2 boot linings, and 2 pieces of batting.

With the topper template you’ll cut 2 toppers from a coordinating fabric, and 2 pieces of batting.

And finally cut out your fabric for your loop. I used the same fabric as the main part of my boot for this.

Assembling the pieces of your stocking

Now you’re going to make 2 stacks.

Starting from the ground up, your first stack will be the boot lining, boot batting, and the outer boot piece with the right side of the fabric facing up.

The second stack will be the outer boot fabric (right side facing down,) boot batting, and boot lining.

Pin each stack together with a few pins just to hold it in place.

Assembling the stocking topper

Now take your 2 pieces of topper fabric and lay them out right side facing down.

Lay your topper batting pieces on top of each one and trim off about an inch from each end (only from the batting piece.)  

Then fold the fabric over the batting and then fold the topper in half keeping the fabric tucked around each end of the batting like you see in the third picture below.

Sandwich the very top of each boot stack between the folds on your topper (picture 2 below) and pin in place.

This is also the time to add any trim or ric-rac if you want to.

Sew together about 1/2 inch from the bottom of the topper to hold everything together. **You’re doing one boot stack at a time here. So in the end you will have 2 pieces with toppers attached like you see in the 4the picture below.

Now lay the 2 boot pieces one on top of the other, with the outer fabric pieces facing in and pin to hold in place. (It will look inside out at this point.)  

Sew along the edge of the entire stocking with about a 1/2 inch seam.

Make a fabric loop to hang your stocking

To make the loop that will hold your stocking on the mantle or a hook take your piece of fabric and fold each long end to the center and then fold in half. Sew along the edge to hold it together.

While your stocking is still inside out, attach each end of your loop to the the topper of the stocking . Be sure not to sew through both layers of your topper but rather attach each end of your loop to one topper piece.

TIP: It’s best to angle your loop a little bit so when it hangs the toe of the stocking  faces down a little bit.

Personalizing your DIY stockings

For the letters on my stockings I love to use felt. You can trace letters that you print off of your computer in any font you like onto stiff felt and cut them out.

As you can see on my family’s stockings, I was able to fit all of our names, because they’re short. For longer names, I usually go with a nick name or a monogram using one larger letter.

Once you’ve cut out your letters attach them to the stocking using hot glue.

 And there you have it. Personalized stockings you just can’t find in stores!

Do you like to buy Christmas decorations, make them, or mix it up?

I like to do a little bit of both. You can see how I mix it up at my Holiday Home Tour. I’d love to hear about some of the projects you’ve made!