Traditional Christmas Stocking Tutorial

I have been getting my Christmas craft on, and my sewing machine out to create a traditional Christmas stocking.  You just need a few basic sewing skills, some glue, crafting materials and a little creativity.
Victorian Christmas Stocking

I received a box of craft goodies from Turtle Mat along with the challenge to create a Christmas stocking.  Inspired by visiting many National Trust properties and some of the contents of the craft box, I could feel an Victorian Christmas Stocking calling me. Traditional items such as the hessian, pine cones and ornamental robins were all leading me down the Victorian path.

Items to Create a Victorian Christmas Stocking

Red Felt 2 sheets

Hessian
Hessian ribbon
Ornamental robins
Glitter glue
Pine cone
Cream lace ribbon
Decorate ribbon
Jiggle bells
Paper

You will also need, sewing thread, needle.

Creating the Felt Stocking

I started by drawing a stocking shape, to maximise the piece of felt. 

• Place the two pieces of felt on top of each other. Sew these together 1/2 cm from the edge leaving the top of the stocking open. What you see will eventually be the inside of the stocking.
• The hessian trim, cut a long oblong piece of hessian to trim the top of your stocking. I would allow 3 cms at the bottom and end for when you sew, this will allow for fraying. Pin the hessian around the top of the stocking with the excess hessian above the edge of felt fabric, to check you have the right fit. When you join the hessian to create one loop the hem needs to be on the inside. Unpin to sew the hessian into a loop. 

• Reattach the sew the hessian trim to the felt. (see photo)
• Optional - you can sew any excess red felt to the inside of the stocking to provide a tidy cover to the hessian hem.
• Turn the stocking inside out.
• I also added a piece decorative lace to trim the outside of the hessian to add that Victorian feel.
• Take a small piece of decorative ribbon to create a loop to sew at the top inside of the stocking so that you can hang it up.

Creating the Hessian Bow

You will need to cut 3 pieces of hessian ribbon (see photo) the sizes will depend on how big you want your bow in proportion to your stocking. 

• One long piece will create the two tales of the bow. 
• Two pieces you will need to sew to create a loop. The loops should be different sizes, these will sit on top of each other to create the top element of the bow. 
• Place the smaller loop on top of the larger loop, pinch them in the middle, to create a gather. Place the middle of the long piece of ribbon at the back of the larger loop. Sew these together though the center of the bow. Sew a smaller piece of folded ribbon to create a center cover for the bow. Cut out small V's at the ends. 
• I used some pieces of decorative lace ribbon and some lovely jingle bells to trim the bow. 

Finishing of the Christmas Stocking

• Position the bow and secure it with some stitches. 
• Use glitter glue to paint onto the pine cone, allow this to dry. 
• Position and ornamental Robbins and pine cone - these should be secured by sewing them in place. You should be able to weave the thread around the base of the pine cone. 

You now have a wonderful Victorian style Christmas Stocking, ready to hang up waiting for Santa to leave his presents. 

You can watch my unboxing video on my You Tube channel to discover all the craft items I received for this Christmas Stocking challenge.

This is my entry to the Turtle Mat Christmas Stocking Craft challenge.