stockings

Stockings can reflect an individual's personality or your decor scheme. Any colors or fabrics from elegant to whimsical, classic to funky can be utilized to hand craft a unique stocking. Using your Fiskars tools a fabulous stocking is just a few steps away, and our design team is here to give you some ideas to get started.

Designer:  Lisa Storms
I don't think I've ever been happier with any craft I've ever made!  Partly because it combines some of my current favorite things (felt and glitter), but more importantly because it will be cherished in our family for years to come.  It brought back so many memories of the felt boots (instead of stockings) my mom made and decorated for us in our childhood that she still puts out every year.  That combination of felt and glitter and homey goodness ... I wanted to pass that on to my kids.  I've wanted to make stockings ever since my youngest was born (he's now eight) so I guess the saying goes ... better late than never!

Making your own stocking has many benefits.  Of course you can decorate it to suit the owner's personality, your Christmas decor, and traditions.  But one thing I wanted was a smaller stocking than I usually see on the market.  Santa doesn't put a ton of stuff in our stockings (don't worry ... he loves us dearly but he knows I don't like clutter and has decided not to include much filler).  So, I began with a stocking I had and traced it onto butcher paper.  I then traced it inside much smaller, keeping the same general shape.  After cutting out my template, I pinned it onto two pieces of red felt and cut it out using Pinking Shears. 

I traced several circles using the Circle Shape Template onto pink felt with a disappearing ink marking pen.  I very roughly cut them out outside of the traced lines and flipped them over to apply pink Glitter Glaze by Li'l Davis Designs.  I did this so that after it dried, I could go back and cut out the circles at that time to get a crisp cut.  I also stamped out holly leaves using Heidi Grace's new Christmas Icons Stamps onto green felt with black StazOn ink.  I, again, roughly cut these out and applied clear Glitter Glaze.  I *love* the effect Glitter Glaze has on felt.  I set these aside to dry for a full day.

When it came time to assemble everything, I cut out my dried shapes and sewed everything down onto my stocking front.  I then folded a two pieces of white felt in half and sewed one to the top of each stocking panel before sewing around all sides (leaving the top open of course) and folded down my cuff.  For a simple monogram, I took a glittered chipboard letter by Li'l Davis Designs and punched two small holes into it using the 1/8 Inch Circle Hand Punch.  I glued the letter onto my stock cuff using felt glue and using the holes I punched, sewed it on for extra support.  To finish it all off, I stitched my holly leaves on with a red button and a strip of felt folded in half for an easy hanger.  I can't wait to see all of our new stockings hung up this Christmas and for years to come.

Designer: Patti Milazzo
Hanging Christmas stockings is a tradition I look forward to every year!  They’re so festive and they help build the anticipation of what’s to come Christmas morning.  This stocking is very simple in construction, but the rich, non-traditional colors and whimsical curled toe give it a vintage charm. 

To create this stocking, I drew my boot pattern - approximately 7 ½” W at the top, 10” W at the bottom and 14”H – with a curled toe.  Fold 22”W x 16”H fabric in half with right sides facing in and trace design onto fabric. Use rotarty cutter to cut ¼” – ½” outside line for seam.  Leaving right sides facing in, pin boot shapes together and stitch around boot shape leaving the top open.  Now turn the sewn boot right side out and iron.

For the cuff, cut 2 – 8”W x 9”H pieces of fabric – for this I have the stripes shown vertically.  Fold each in half with wrong sides in – each piece will now be 8”W x 4 ½”H.  Place both cuff pieces together with the fold at the top and stitch each side of the cuff.  Turn the cuff upside down with cut edge facing up and fit it over the top of the boot so that it surrounds the top of the boot.  Pin the cuff in place all the way around the boot top and stitch.  Unfold the cuff (upward) and iron.  Now refold the cuff so that the seam doesn’t show and iron.  Fold ribbon in half twice and stitch ends just inside the top of the cuff.

Throughout this project I found myself reaching for the Sewing Multi Tool.  Whether it was to rip seams (ahem.....more than a few times), to unfold that tiny toe or to take quick measure it really is a great all purpose tool to have when you’re working on any project!   

Note: use additional fabric to line the inside of your stocking or use quilting material if you think your stocking will require sturdier construction for heavy items.

Designer: Stacey Kingman 
I am always on the lookout for old wool sweaters, not because I like to wear them, but because I love to make Christmas stockings with them. It’s a pretty simple process with delightfully unique results!

I began this stocking by laying the inside out sweater out flat and studying its natural shape. Then using the sleeve as the top portion, I drew out the foot part of the stocking. The 45mm rotary cutter is perfect for cutting the shape out. I hand stitched the stocking, turned it right side out, made some adjustments, then machine stitched it. The 12 in 1 Sewing Multi Toll was quite handy when I still didn’t like the shape and needed to tear part of the machine stitching out – it has a great seam ripper in its attachments. Once I had the shape of the stocking just how I wanted it, I hand stitched a red border around it. This hand stitching gives it a primitive look and ties the design together nicely.

For the embellishment at the top, I cut another old sweater. Using the Flowers Ultra ShapExpress template, I drew a circle on the back of the red sweater and cut it out with the No. 5 Scissors with oversized handles. I drew holly leaves on green felt and cut them out as well, then hand stitched them both on. The ribbon hanger is hand stitched on the inside – I made it plenty strong to hold lots of goodies!

TIPS:
• Work with the natural shape of the sweater. It’s just easier that way.
• If you want to do much stitching on the front of the stocking, either stitch on it before you sew it closed at the bottom or make a separate panel to attach to the front – it’s hard to stitch on a sleeve that’s been sewn closed.
• Look for sweaters that have  ribbed cuffs – they are great for sewing the ribbon hanger onto.
• You can’t go wrong with hand stitching on a sweater. If you don’t love the result, it comes right out and leaves no holes.

Designer: Valerie Salmon
I have never made a Christmas stocking before! Thanks to this article, I can now say I have. 

This stocking is inspired by particular ones I have seen in one of my favorite home décor catalogs I get in the mail.  I love it because it is not the traditional stocking.  So if you are ready to tackle something new, why not add a new chic addition to your holiday décor?

Create your own pattern and cut all fabric and matching fusible fleece interfacing.  Iron the interfacing to the fabric.  Stitch the stocking together.  Add the details on the cuff with an eyelet ruffle and pom-pom trims.  Finally, trace a star using a shape template on to 2 layers of yellow felt.  Cut it and stitch around the shape, adding ribbon to one point of the star.  Hand-stitch a jingle bell in the star’s center.  Hang it on the stocking as shown.

By Fiskars design team