Sewing Tutorial on Making a Christmas Stocking

Sewing Tutorial on Making a Christmas Stocking

From elegant to whimsical, Christmas stockings are a great way to add a pop of holiday cheer to any room. Plus, they can readily be sewn in a few hours of enjoyable sewing time. Enjoy this sewing tutorial!

This free pattern from Pellon Projects was designed by Rachel Gander. Today we’re going to change it up to feature a traditional Tumbler pattern as the front of the stocking. We’ve chosen rich, gorgeous silks to complete the look.

Supplies, Fabrics, and Notions:

• Assorted brown, red, and green silk dupioni, poly dupioni, or fabrics from your stash.
  
• Quilt Basting Spray 
• Pellon Shirtailor Interfacing
• Stocking Pattern
• Chaco Liner Yellow Pen
• Grandmother’s One Patch Template: Tumbler Block

Cutting Tumblers:

Cut a total of 30 tumbler patches.

• For each solid fabric tumbler, the cutting directions are the same.
• Cut 4-1/2″ wide crosswise fabric strips.

• Align the template as close to the cut end as possible.
• Trace along each edge.

• Flip the template, align the traced edge with the template side, and trace the other side of the Tumbler shape. Repeat the process until the entire fabric strip has been marked.

• Use a rotary cutter and ruler to cut on each marked line.

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• Repeat marking and cutting steps for each color.

Create the Patchwork

• Arrange the six tumblers into five rows.

         Notice the ends are staggered. We’ll be cutting our stocking shape from this modified tumbler block; having squared ends isn’t necessary.

• Pin tumbler pairs together.
• Offset the end ¼″—the seam allowance width. Stitch.
• Join the block pairs with a 1/4″ seam allowance.
• Press seam allowances open.

• Join pairs to form rows.

• Join rows using a 1/4″ seam allowance.
• Press seam allowances open.

     To prevent the edges of the seams from making an imprint on the right side, press the seams over a sleeve roll. If you don’t have a sleeve roll, tightly roll and tape several magazines or catalogs. Cover with a wool fabric or wool felt and hand stitch. The fabric will absorb the moisture of the iron.

• Use temporary adhesive basting spray to attach the patchwork tumbler to the interfacing.

• Use a machine straight stitch to stitch in-the-ditch though the patchwork and the interfacing.

• Download and print the stocking pattern from Pellon Projects.
• Align the stocking right and left sides. Join with clear tape.

• Align the top and bottom halves. Join with clear tape.

• Cut out the paper stocking pattern.
• Position the paper pattern on the interfacing side of the patchwork tumbler.
• Pin. Use a rotary cutter to cut around the paper pattern.

• Lay the paper pattern on another piece of interfacing. We’ll use this for the back of the stocking.
• Rotary cut the second piece of interfacing.

• Cut one stocking from the green silk stocking back fabric and two stockings from the green lining.

• Spray baste the interfacing to the stocking back fabric.

Create the Hanging Loop

• Cut a fabric rectangle measuring 2-1/2″ x 6-1/2″

• Fold the rectangle in half lengthwise. Finger press the folded edge.
• Open the rectangle. Meet long edges at the fold.

• Fold in both top and bottom edges. Press.

• Fold in half lengthwise again. Press.

• Edgestitch along each side.

• Fold the loop in half and pin the cut edges to the top of the stocking lining.

• Baste.

Create the Stocking

• Layer the lining onto the stocking fabrics, for both back and front pieces.
• Pin along the top edge.

• Use a 1/4″ seam allowance to stitch along the top edge of each the back and front fabrics.

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• Once sewn and opened, the pieces should look like this:

• With both stocking back and front open and flat, match right sides and pin.

Note from Nancy: When joining the stocking, we need to leave an unstitched opening along the lining straight edge. To remind myself to stop stitching at this area, I place a pin parallel to the cut edge, rather than perpendicular.

• Stitch around the stocking using a 1/4″ seam allowance.
• Backstitch at the start and finish, leaving 4″ unsewn along the lining’s straight edge.

• Press the seam allowance at the opening.

• Use a rotary cutting pinking blade to trim excess fabric from the seam allowance at the curved edges.

• Turn the stocking right side out through the opening.

• Hand stitch the opening closed.

• Tuck the lining into the stocking fabric.

• Press the top edge.

• Our stocking is complete!

Here’s a listing of more free stocking patterns:

I {Heart} Pellon Stocking from Pellon Projects

Christmas Stocking Tutorial from Amy’s Creative Side

Christmas Stocking Projects from Baby Lock, enter keyword “stocking”

Bye for now,

Nancy Zieman—author, pattern designer, businesswoman, producer, and national sewing authority—is the host of the popular show Sewing With Nancy®, which appears exclusively on public television stations across the United States and Canada. Follow Nancy’s blog at NancyZieman.com/blog and sign up to receive Nancy’s E-News for the latest news in Sewing, Quilting, Creating, and Block of the Month updates.

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