Sunday, August 30, 2009

Faux Quilted Stocking Tutorial

Last Christmas I came up with this method for making a quilted Christmas stocking without actually knowing how to quilt. The key is to use a quilted pillow sham. You can get a quilted sham lots of places -- this one is Simply Shabby Chic by Rachel Ashwell for Target. It's green and red and shabbily Christmas-y. It was $12 on clearance (yes, pricey, but I really liked it).

Lay the sham face down and cut off the back. Save it for another use. Be careful when cutting it off not to cut the ruffly that goes around the sham.

Fold the sham in half, right sides together. Use another stocking as a template, and lay about .75 inch from the fold.



Line up the top of your template stocking just below the ruffle at the top of the sham.

Using a disappearing ink pen, outline the template stocking on the sham, leaving a one-half inch seam allowance. Cut along the outline and lay scraps to the side.


Keeping right sides together, make sure your two stocking pieces are lined up exactly by lining up the top seams and then smoothing down the rest of the way. Starting at the top, pin the pieces together and set aside for a minute.




Now you need to make a hanger for the stocking. From the scraps of the sham, cut a piece about 6 inches by 2.5 inches.


Rather than trying to sew rights sides together and turning the bulky material, I sew wrong sides together with a straight stitch and then a zig-zag stich. Trim close to the stitching and no one will even notice.

Now back to the stocking. I put it on the sewing machine with the toe pointed to the right. Start sewing at the top of the toe side. I used a triple stitch for durability.


When you get near the end of sewing around the stocking, it's time to add the hanger. Fold the hanger in half (stitched side toward the bottom of the stocking) and place INSIDE the stocking so that when you turn it right side out, the hanger will be on the outside of the stocking. It should look like this.
This part is a pain to sew. Look at how far away the presser foot is from the sewing machine! I prefer to use the handwheel for this part. After you've sewn past the thick part, go back to the triple stitch to finish sewing the last bit of the stocking.


Once you've sewn all the way around, if you are dissatisfied with the shape of your stocking, just use your marking pen to redraw then lines you don't like, then sew again and trim the edges.

Turn the stocking right side out, press it and you can cross one more thing off your handmade Christmas list! Email me if you have any questions.

Have a great day!


8 comments:

Lyndsay said...

this is so sweet, great idea!

Erin J. said...

What a great idea! And so simple too:) Thanks for sharing!

Laurel @ Ducks in a Row said...

So cute - I'm so glad you are starting christmas already!

Unknown said...

I'm glad you are back! Yeah!

nap time journal said...

You can come for dinner anytime....wanna bring dessert?? haha :)

I Sew Lucky said...

I love stockings! I will making some for the shop I hope:)


BTW-the new blog address is
isewlucky.blogspot.com

Wendy said...

I love it and want to try it - but first I've got to figure out how to thread my machine. ;)

Angie said...

That is "sew" cute!!