Festive Felt Christmas Stocking

To begin,  click here  to open a PDF of the stocking pattern. The pattern is split into seven pieces (two pieces for the top fringe section, and five pieces for the bottom stocking section, which will print on seven pieces of 8 1/2 inch by 11 inch paper).

Cut out the sections and align them together as instructed on the printouts. Then, tape them together.

To prepare the fabric for the front and back of the stocking, pin the pattern to the felt, trace and cut out the shape. Cut two pieces total.

To prepare the pattern for the front embroidered panel, measure and mark 3/4 inch in around the sides and bottom of the pattern (do not mark the top).

Draw a line connecting the marks and trim the pattern along the line.

To prepare the fabric for the front embroidered panel, pin the pattern onto the felt and trace the shape. Leave a few inches of excess fabric around the edges of the shape.

Create paper templates of the designs by printing them at full size using embroidery software. If you don't have embroidery software, you can cut a piece of paper the shape and dimensions of the designs to help with placement and centering.

Align the top edge of the top fringe pattern piece with the top edge of the fabric. Place the design templates where you like. Leave at least one inch of space between the edges of the designs and the edges of the fabric and the bottom edges of the top fringe pattern. Using an air-erase pen (or other marking tool), poke holes in the centers of the templates and mark the fabric. Also, mark the horizontal and vertical axis points.

Remove the templates and the pattern piece. Draw lines connecting the axis marks - these lines will be used for hooping.

Spray a piece of medium-weight cutaway stabilizer with temporary adhesive and smooth the fabric on top. Hoop the fabric and stabilizer together by aligning the marks on the hoop with the lines on the fabric. Attach the hoop to the machine and load the first design. Move the hoop so that the needle is directly over the center point on the fabric and embroider the design.

Repeat the hooping and embroidering process for each design. When the designs have finished, carefully trim away the excess stabilizer on the back of the embroidery.

Then, cut out the shape.

To give the embroidered panel more stability for the remaining steps, spray a piece of medium weight interfacing with temporary adhesive and smooth the fabric on top. Then, trim the interfacing around the outer edge of the fabric. You may also use fusible interfacing and iron it on the backside of the fabric. Be sure to use a pressing cloth over the embroidered side of the fabric so that the felt will not melt.

Align the embroidered panel on top of one of the pieces you cut earlier. Align the top edges together and center the embroidered panel within the larger shape. Pin in place.

Sew the embroidered panel in place by sewing a decorative stitch along the side and bottom edges (we used a blanket stitch). Also, sew a 1/4 inch seam along the top edge.

Align the constructed front piece on top of the remaining pre-cut piece and pin in place.

Sew a seam along the side and bottom edges of the embroidered panel - do not sew along the top edge!

To prepare the top fringe pieces, cut two pieces of felt using the fringe pattern piece.

Align the fabric pieces together and pin in place. Sew a 1/2 inch seam along the short ends only.

Insert the top of the stocking inside the straight edge of the fringe section about 1/2 inch. Pin in place through the top and bottom layers respectively.

Cut an 8 inch length of 1/2 inch wide ribbon. Bring the ends together to form a loop. Insert the ends of the loop in between the layers of fabric at the top corner of the stocking (on the backside of the stocking) and pin in place.

Sew a 1/4 inch seam along the top fringe side on both sides of the stocking. Also, sew seams along the seam allowances directly out from the seams you just sewed. Fold the fringe section over to the outside of the stocking and it's complete!