Embroidered Christmas Stocking

Make a beautiful Christmas stocking with a free pattern and easy-to-follow instructions.

The stocking is lined with cotton and bells add a note of holiday magic to the cuff.

Let your imagination run wild and create personalized stockings for all your friends and family.

Supplies & Materials:

Supplies needed:

1/2 yard outer fabric
1/2 yard lining fabric
1 quarter flat for outer cuff
1 1/2 yards double-wide bias tape (1/2 inch wide)
Cut-away stabilizer
Temporary spray adhesive
Jingle Bells
Masking tape
Needle and thread for some hand-sewing

The designs used in this tutorial include:

Jingle Bell Band - Lg

Gather Materials:

Click here for the pattern piece. You'll need Adobe to open the file.

The stocking pattern is split into four sections, which will print on four pieces of paper.

Four printed paper pattern pieces labeled Section 1 to Section 4, each with instructions to tape sections along specific edges, arranged on a wooden surface.

Cut out the four sections

Hand cutting paper stocking pattern pieces labeled "section 4" and others on a dark wood table, with scissors held by a right hand.

Align the four sections of the pattern as instructed on the printouts, and tape them together.

Paper template for a Christmas stocking with labeled sections and taped edges, placed on a dark woodgrain surface.

We chose glitter craft felt for the front and back of our stocking. You can use whatever kind of fabric you'd like to use, but we recommend something hearty that will last for years.

While tracing patterns throughout this project, pin them in place so they do not slide around. Lay the fabric right side up and place the pattern on top. Leave a few inches of excess around the stocking -- this will help when hooping the fabric.

Trace the shape and set it aside. Do not cut out the shape for the front of the stocking yet.

Person's hand marks fabric with pencil tracing around a paper pattern for a Christmas stocking. Fabric is white; pattern sections and instructions are printed in black and blue.

Lay the fabric for the back of the stocking right side up. Flip the pattern over, and trace it.

Hand tracing a paper stocking pattern pinned to fabric on a table, using a pen or marker, preparing to cut out the stocking shape.

Cut out the shape for the back of the stocking.

Hand holding orange scissors cutting white fabric shaped like a Christmas stocking on a dark wood surface.

Next, trace both the front and the back of the pattern onto the right side of the fabric for the lining of the stocking.

Black fabric with a subtle paisley pattern on a wooden table, a white paper stocking template pinned on top, and a hand holding white chalk tracing an outline.

Cut out the shapes.

Hand holding yellow scissors cutting fabric with a black and white musical note pattern, shaped like a Christmas stocking, on a wooden surface.

Next, prepare the cuff fabric. Cut Section 1 from the pattern or reprint it from the PDF file.

(If you are making more than one stocking, Section 1 can be easily taped back onto the pattern later.)

Two white paper pattern pieces for a stocking are cut out and placed on a dark wood table. An orange-handled pair of scissors rests on the larger pattern piece. Black printed text and sewing instructions are visible on the paper.

Trace Section 1 twice on the quarter flat

Piece of fabric with printed musical notes laid flat on a wooden surface, with a pinned paper pattern labeled "Section 1" held by a hand and scissors cutting the fabric.

Cut out the shapes.

Piece of white fabric with printed black musical notes and symbols being cut with orange-handled scissors on a dark wood table. Another fabric piece with the same pattern is on the table.

Trace section 1 twice on the inner cuff fabric. We used the same felt fabric as the body of the stocking.

Piece of white fabric with a rectangular paper pattern pinned on it labeled "Section 1" and instructions to tape to section 2 along one edge.

Cut out the shapes.

Hand cutting white fabric marked with a blue rectangular outline using orange-handled scissors on a dark wooden surface.

Now, prepare the front of the stocking for the embroidery. Cut a piece of cut-away stabilizer that covers the entire back of the fabric. Spray the stabilizer with adhesive and smooth the fabric on top.

Align one of the front cuff pieces on the top of the front fabric piece as a guide. You will embroider within the area below the cuff and about 1/2 inch away from the edges.

Print paper templates of the designs and trim them down so you can see to place them. Position and tape the templates on the fabric, then remove the cuff fabric.

Embroidered stocking outline on white fabric with taped black-and-white paper templates of musical notes, holly, and two cats playing a piano keyboard.

Mark the vertical and horizontal axis points of all the designs.

Hand drawing and gridded sketches of squirrels with holly and musical notes above piano keys, taped down on white fabric with blue guidelines.

One at a time, remove the paper templates and draw lines by connecting the axis points. The lines will be used for hooping, so draw them out far enough to reach the edge of your hoop.

Hand drawing Christmas stocking outline on white fabric with purple marker, using a metal ruler for measurements, shown on a flat surface.

Start Embroidering:

Hoop the fabric by aligning the lines on the fabric with the marks on the hoop.

Embroidery hoop holding white fabric marked with purple lines and dots forming a cross and a curved line, placed on a wooden surface.

Attach the hoop to the machine, load the design, align the needle directly over the center point, and embroider the design.

After each design finishes sewing, unhoop the fabric, and rehoop for the next design.

Reattach the hoop on the axis points, load the next design, align the needle, and embroider the design.

Close-up of an embroidery machine stitching a green holly leaf and black stem onto white fabric within an embroidery hoop.

When all the designs have finished sewing, cut out the shape.

White fabric Christmas stocking with embroidered designs of musical notes decorated with holly, and two chipmunk characters playing a black and white piano keyboard. Scissors partially visible on the right side. Stocking on wooden surface.

Now assemble the stocking.

Start by laying out one piece of the liner fabric wrong side up. Lay the embroidered front fabric right side up on top of the liner fabric.

Hand holding white fabric with Christmas embroidery of bells, music notes, and holly, above a black fabric piece cut in stocking shape on wooden table.

Then lay the back fabric, wrong side up, on top of the embroidered front fabric.

Hand holding the edge of a white fabric Christmas stocking with a piano and holly embroidery design, showing the felt lining inside, on a wooden table.

Then, lay the second piece of liner fabric right side up on top of the back fabric.

Hand holding up a dark gray fabric piece with a treble clef pattern over a white stocking-shaped fabric laid on wooden table.

Pin the layers together.

Black Christmas stocking with white treble clef and musical note pattern embroidered throughout, laying flat on a wooden surface.

Sew a 3/8 inch seam around the sides and bottom of the stocking.

Close-up of a sewing machine stitching black fabric printed with white treble clefs and musical notes on a dark wooden surface.

Turn the stocking right side out.

Sew the outer layers and the liner layers together by sewing a zigzag stitch along the top edge of the stocking.

Close-up of a sewing machine stitching white thread on black fabric with faint white floral embroidery patterns visible inside the machine's foot.

To assemble the cuff, start with two separate cuffs, which will later be sewn together. Lay one piece of the inner cuff fabric and one piece of the outer cuff fabric right sides together. Do the same with the other two pieces of cuff fabric.