It’s my favourite time of the year. Sleighbells are ringing, and we finally have an excuse to decorate the house with shiny things!
Now, you could spend all your family pressie fund on the most insta-worthy Christmas stockings, or you could pocket the cash and make some of your own.
Personally, I think there’s no better way to decorate the home at Christmas than with some of your own, hand-made items. Which is why I’ve put together this craft project, to show you how simple it is to make and customise your very own Christmas stockings.
Don’t worry, no one is going to judge you if you make a Christmas stocking for the cat or dog!
So, clear your diary for the afternoon, and invite some friends over, because it’s time to get creative.
How to DIY Felt Christmas Stocking
Time: 2 hours
Skill level: Intermediate
What you’ll need:
- A sheet of felt. The felt should be large enough so that, when folded, it equals the size of the stocking you’d like to make. In this tutorial, the stocking measures roughly 50cm x 30cm.
- Paper, which you’ll need to cut into the shape of your stocking. This will be used as a template.
- Scissors
- Needle and thread (use a colour that complements the colour of your stocking)
- Pins
- A hot glue gun
- Decorations / embellishments
Step 1: Place template on felt
After cutting your paper into the desired shape of your custom stocking, place it on top of your folded piece of felt and pin it down.
Step 2: Cut around template
Use scissors to cut around the template.
Step 3: Fold top of stocking
Fold the top of the front sheet forwards and the top of the back sheet backwards. This will create a “lip” on the stocking, which you should then pin down.
Step 4: Stitch the stocking
Using your needle and thread, blanket-stitch the stocking together. This should take between 30 minutes and one hour. If you don’t have enough time to hand-sew it, then feel free to use a sewing machine instead.
Step 5: Get creative
Once you’ve sewn your stocking together, take out your decorations and embellishments and lay them on your stocking. Think about the person (or animal) who you’re making the stocking for, and test out a few different ideas with them in mind.
Step 6: Glue on decorations
When you’ve come up with a design that you’re happy with, take out your hot glue gun and make those decorations permanent.
There you have it: your very own, customised felt Christmas stocking.
This article was originally published as DIY: How to make your own felt Christmas stocking by www.realestate.com.au and is written by Laura Quattrocelli.