by Patti Beckert

Created on: November 30, 2009

There are a couple of ways to make personalized Christmas stockings. One way is to purchase unadorned, ready-made stockings at the store and then use various trimmings to personalize them to your liking. Another way to make personalized Christmas stockings is to do so from scratch. Both ways are very easy and a great project for the whole family.

Ready-made Stockings

There are several styles of ready-made stockings at the stores during the holiday season that allow you to add a name and some decorations to them. The type of stocking you want to purchase for this type of craft is either a red or green felt stocking or a red fur stocking with white fur trim. Some stockings come complete with a marker or glitter pen so that you can add your name to the stocking.

Handmade Stockings

Making your own stockings is easy and fun and a project all members of the family can enjoy. The first thing you'll want to do is create a pattern for your stocking. Take a piece of newspaper and draw a stocking on it in pencil the size you want. A normal-sized stocking usually is around 20-24 inches long and about 6 or 7 inches wide. Therefore, make your pattern at least 1 extra inch around all sides to allow for a 1/2 inch seam. Using a pencil allows you to erase lines that don't look quite right and re-draw the stocking. If you have an old Christmas stocking lying around from Christmases past, you can certainly use that as a model and trace around it, but again, making sure that your pattern allows for a 1/2 inch seam all around the stocking. The best material to buy to make your own stockings is red or green felt. It is easy to work with and can easily be sewn or glued together. You can also buy felt or fleece in Christmas patterns that will help save on decorating items.

When preparing to cut your stocking, Just fold the fabric in half, place your pattern on top and cut around the pattern. To make sure the pattern doesn't slip, you should pin the pattern to the fabric with straight pins. Once the pattern is in place, you can then cut out the two sides of your stocking.

If you wish to add a fur trim to your stocking, you can do so by making two facings for both sides of the stocking. The easiest way to do this is to measure down on your stocking pattern about 3 inches from the top. Take a piece of fur fabric or alternate color felt fabric, i.e. white on red or red on green, etc., fold it in half and cut out two strips of fabric that, when attached to the top of the stocking

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