Some Christmas decorations come out of a box. The best ones come out of your sewing room. A quilted Christmas stocking is quick to make, easy to personalize, and sturdy enough to be filled, emptied, and loved for decades. Make one in an afternoon for someone special — or make a matching set for the whole mantel while the holiday prints are still on your cutting table.
What You’ll Make
One lined, lightly quilted Christmas stocking, about 18″ long from cuff to toe, with a contrasting cuff and a hanging loop. The quilting gives it body so it holds its shape whether it is empty in November or very full on Christmas morning. This is a confident-beginner project: mostly straight seams, one gentle curve at the toe, and no zippers or buttonholes.
Materials
7 of the 8 materials below (88%) are available at Linda’s — links included. The last one is easy to find anywhere.
- Confetti Cotton Christmas Fat Quarter Bundle, 12 Pcs. — pick two festive prints, one for the stocking front and one for the back, plus scraps for practice. One bundle makes several stockings. Get it at Linda’s.
- White Grunge Basics - White Paper - 44/45″ Per Yard — a snowy white for the cuff and the lining; half a yard is plenty for one stocking. Get it at Linda’s.
- Quilters Dream Select Natural Cotton Batting Package — a thin layer of batting gives the stocking its soft, quilted feel. Get it at Linda’s.
- 1103 Burgundy Aurifil Cotton 50wt Large Spool — a deep holiday red for quilting, piecing, and topstitching. Get it at Linda’s.
- Olfa Deluxe 45mm Rotary Cutter — for cutting the stocking shape and cuff cleanly through all the layers. Get it at Linda’s.
- Quilting Pins Fine by Clover — to pin the quilted layers and the cuff before sewing. Get it at Linda’s.
- Riley Blake Designs Quilty Clips — handy for holding the thicker layers together at the top edge without bent pins. Get it at Linda’s.
- About 6″ of ribbon, twill tape, or a fabric strip — for the hanging loop, available at most craft stores or your local quilt shop.
Steps
- Make a template. Draw a stocking shape on paper, about 18″ long and 7″ wide at the leg, with a rounded toe. Or trace a stocking you already own, adding ½″ all around for seams. Cut the paper template out.
- Cut the pieces. Using the template, cut one stocking shape from your front print, one reversed shape from your back print, and two from the white lining fabric. Cut two matching shapes from batting. Cut one cuff rectangle 9″ by 15″ from the white fabric.
- Quilt the outer pieces. Layer each outer piece on top of its batting piece, wrong side to the batting. Quilt with simple diagonal lines about 2″ apart, or stitch a few gentle wavy lines. Trim any batting that peeks out.
- Sew the stocking body. Place the quilted front and back right sides together. Sew around the sides and toe with a ½″ seam, leaving the top open. Go slowly around the toe curve. Clip the curves, turn right side out, and press.
- Sew the lining. Place the two lining pieces right sides together and sew the same way, but leave a 3″ opening in one side seam for turning later. Do not turn it yet.
- Make the cuff and loop. Fold the cuff rectangle in half lengthwise, wrong sides together, and press. Fold your ribbon or tape into a loop. Pin the loop inside the top of the stocking body at the back seam, with the loop pointing down.
- Assemble. Slip the lining over the stocking body, right sides together, with the cuff sandwiched between them along the top edge, raw edges aligned. Sew all the way around the top. Pull everything right side out through the opening in the lining, then stitch that opening closed by hand or machine.
- Finish. Push the lining down inside, fold the cuff down over the top, and press. Your stocking is ready to hang.
Tips
- Add a name in simple hand embroidery or a stitched initial on the cuff before you assemble the stocking — it is much easier to do while the cuff is still flat.
- Making a set? Cut all the stockings first, then quilt, then sew in batches. The second one goes twice as fast.
- Keep the quilting simple. A stocking gets stuffed, stretched, and tugged, and straight lines hold up beautifully.
- Save your bundle scraps: two stockings from different prints in the same bundle look like a planned set, not leftovers.
Where to Get Everything
The Christmas fat quarter bundle, white cuff and lining fabric, cotton batting, Aurifil thread, rotary cutter, pins, and clips are all at lindas.com — follow the links in the Materials list above. For the short piece of ribbon or twill tape for the hanging loop, check most craft stores or your local quilt shop, or simply cut a 2″ by 6″ strip from one of your bundle prints and fold it into a fabric loop. Hang it up, fill it generously, and start a tradition.
