DIY Burlap + Lace Stockings

I am back to share another post in our “A Homemade Christmas” series!  I hope you have been enjoying this series as much as I have!  Laine, Christa, and Heather have been inspiring me with some great projects!  You can catch up on all the posts on the series at the end of this post.

Today, I am sharing how to make your own stockings!  If you read along here at The Frugal Homemaker, you know I have just a little crush on burlap.  In fact it seems I am not the only one, as stores in our area are having a hard time keeping it on the shelves and I had to practically guard my burlap ribbon with my life at Hobby Lobby when I finally found some in stock.  Plus I am doing a neutral color scheme this year for Christmas, so burlap fits perfectly.  But if burlap is not your thing, you can follow this simple tutorial to make a stocking out of any fabric that you choose.

I used a stocking we had as a guide.  Just laid it on the burlap and cut around it allowing an extra 1/2 inch all the way around for a seam allowance.

I cut out 4 pieces – front and back for 2 stockings.

I also had a strip of leftover white material (from another project I will show you next week) and I cut it the same size as the top of the stocking.

2 pieces (front and back) for each stocking.

I just did a simple stitch all the way around the stockings.  Then turned right side out and ironed.

I sewed my 2 squares of white fabric together so I had a tube the same size as the top of my stocking.

Then with my stocking the RIGHT side out, I stuck the tube of white fabric inside.  At first I did raw edge to raw edge and had to rip that seam out.  So make sure you do it just like in the picture.  Stocking is right side out, fabric is right side out with the raw side inside.

If you want to attach a hangar to hang your stocking by, this is the time to do it.  You can make your own tube of matching fabric or just use a strip of ribbon.  I was going SIMPLE, fast (it was late!), and EASY on this one so I just used a piece of ribbon.  You will put your ribbon in between the stocking and cuff with the tip sticking out the top a bit.

Now sew all the way around the edge.  (You may have to take off that extra plastic piece on the front of your machine so you can slide the stocking over the thinner base area – sorry, basic sewer here – don’t know the technical terms! 😉

Flip the cuff over the top of the stocking and this is what it will look like!  Perfect!  The loop is in there and the cuff is pretty too.  I ironed everything to get it nice and set and smooth.

There are TONS of ideas on how to embellish the cuffs – just browse “burlap or homemade stockings on Pinterest.”  You could add buttons, lace, make a ruffled cuff or pleated cuff, etc.  so many things!  I chose a basic beige scrap of lace that I had in my sewing stuff.  It added just enough without making it overly girly for my husband.  I didn’t even hem the bottom portion of the white cuff – I just tucked it under and then when I attached this trim, I just sewed right along the top of the lace so that will basically hem the bottom of the cuff too.

I was doing some shopping earlier this week and was near a Pottery Barn store – yay!  We live over an hour away from a mall with a Pottery Barn store so I always love checking out their store for inspiration when I finally get a chance.  And I actually bought something this time!  A clearance burlap pumpkin and these cute glittery initial ornaments.  The perfect addition to my burlap stockings!

So my mantel display is finally complete!    And I love it!   You can get all the details on everything you see in my mantel post and find out how to make that Vintage Music page wreath here.

I had put off making these stockings cause I thought they would be a little more difficult than I was looking forward to tackling, but they were so easy!  Took me about an hour from cutting to hanging to do both stockings.

And they just help add to the coziness of this this little area – my favorite part of the whole display!

So don’t be afraid to tackle making your own stockings if you can’t find any you like at the store.  I used scraps for all of mine but you could probably get 2 stockings out of a 1/2 yard of fabric and then 1/8 of a yard should be plenty for the cuff.  Less than $5 for 2 stockings depending on the price of your material.

And here’s the rest of the posts in our “A Homemade Christmas” series.  Take some time this weekend between shopping, wrapping, and baking to check out a few of these projects.