Halloween Stocking – Prepare to DIY

Hi everyone, Fall is here, and it’s spooky time! And I’m so VERY excited to share with you my first pattern for sale!!! Woohoo! If you’d like to make your own creepy Christmas or haunted Halloween stocking, click here to purchase the digital PDF pattern 🙂

Materials you will need:
• Fur (with a very short pile) 10” x 10” or 5” x 20”
• Felt 3” x 6”
• Interfacing 3” x 6”
• Stocking Fabric (medium weight woven fabric like poplin, broadcloth) – 1/2 yard
• Contrast Stripe Fabric ( medium weight woven fabric like poplin, broadcloth) – 1/4 yard
• Lining fabric (light to medium weight woven fabric like poplin, chintz, satin, acetate) – 1/3 yard
• 1/2” ribbon – 4”
• Polyfil 1/3 bag
• Bell x1

Tools you will need:
• Sewing Machine
• Iron
• Hand Sewing Needle
• Bodkin / chopstick
• Fray-check (optional)

Cutting

You can use just about any medium weight woven fabric for the main part of the stocking. I’m using a super basic polyester poplin.

I have my main black fabric folded in half so I can cut two of the main part of the stocking at once. Now take some transfer paper and a tracing wheel and trace just the tight area of the toe on the wrong side of your fabric. This is where it will be sewn. The rest of the stocking has 1/2” seam allowance.

Use the scraps from the main stocking to cut one of the stuffing blocker.

For the top section, use a fur with a very short pile. I’m marking on the back what direction the fur runs in. Cut two of the upper part of the stocking.

I’m using a fun spiderweb printed fabric for the lining. A light weight satin would also be nice. Cut two of the lining.

I’m going to use felt for the name plate, but first I want to stabilize it a bit. This is weft interfacing, you can use any fusible interfacing you have to stiffen it up.

If you have a Cricut you can use that to cut. The SVG file in the download folder has two sizes for a short or long name.

I’m just going to use a little rotary blade to cut. You only need to cut one name plate.

Also if you have a longer name you can cut the pattern on the extension marks and add the same amount, up to a half inch, to each side to keep it symmetrical.

Now to the contrast stripes. Cut two of each pattern piece A through H. These are just appliqué pieces so you don’t have to be super exact in your cutting. Use a light to medium weight woven fabric, and pay attention to the grain on these little guys.

Make & apply the stripes:

My stripe fabric looks the same on the right and wrong side, so I’m using a heat-erase pen to mark on the top of the top layer of fabric, and the back of the bottom layer of fabric, to indicate the correct side of the fabric. This will keep them in mirrored pairs.

Pin and sew all of the stripes with 1/4” seam allowance to make them into little tubes. We won’t be flipping them inside out, so if your fabric does have a right and wrong side, sew the seam on the right side of the fabric.

See how they’re all mirrored pairs?

Now center the seam within the tube and press it flat. Do this for all the stripes. I’m using an Iron Finger from Clover on some of the small pieces.

On the right side of your main stocking pieces mark where the stripes should go. You don’t have to mark the entire length, just the edges. Do this to both sides of the stocking. You can use transfer paper or fold along the lines and mark with chalk.

Lay out the stripes using the marks as a guide. Try to be accurate so the stripe edges will line up when the front and back of the stocking are sewn together.

On the smaller stripes A through C the seam allowance sticks out past the edge. Just trim that away.

Pin the stripes to the stocking and top stitch along the edges. If you have an edge stitching foot that will help keep them consistent.

After the stripes are sewn on I’m coming through and with a decorate hand stitch on each stripe. It looks super cute, but be prepared to spend a few hours on it if you’re going to do this step. Alternatively, you could just use a contrast thread to sew the stripes on and it still gives it that little something extra.

Make the Name Plate

We have our cut piece of felt, so now let’s get a name or initials on it. You have a ton of options for this – you can use fabric paint, hand embroidery, machine embroidery, iron-on letters, rhinestones, anything you can think of!

I’m going to use a Cricut Maker and some heat press vinyl. This stocking is going to be for my husband, Ralis, and I used a font called Sewstain from dafont.com. I’ve been using dafont for close to 20 years for fun fonts! It’s a great resource.

Once the felt has a name, center it on the fur. Use the pattern folded in half to help with placement. Pin it in place.

I tested some scraps to get the best setting on my domestic machine for doing a tight zig zag stitch to look like an embroidered satin stitch. You can use any decorative stitch on your machine, or hand sew the nameplate to the fur.

Before this, I’m going to use a straight stitch in contrasting thread to hold it in place and to use as a guide when I start the satin stitch.

Sew along the edge very slowly, only a stitch or two at a time around the curves. With the needle down, lift the presser foot often to release the fabric if it starts bunching up.

Do the same thing with your machine set up for the zig zag, sewing slowly and releasing the fabric often.

Sew the stocking

Our main pieces are done! Now pin the fur to the stocking with the name on the side shown below and sew at 1/2”.

Lightly press the seam allowance up. Pin the two sides of the stocking together, matching the stripes as precisely as you can.

Remember when we marked the curve of the toe when we first cut out the stocking pieces? Make sure that’s still visible. Retrace it if necessary.

Sew the edge of the stocking at 1/2”. Take your time and get close to the pins before you remove them to try to keep the stripes aligned. Go slowly around the curve of the toe so it’s smooth. With the needle down, lift the presser foot often to release the fabric.

Check that the stripes are lined up to your liking. If any of them shifted too much, now’s the time to open the seam and fix the misalignment.

Use small scissors to snip into the curved seams and trim away the seam allowance by the toe so it can turn right-side-out. The toe has to be snipped a lot because of the curve. Don’t snip into your stitching!

You can use fray-check around the toe area, especially around the hand stitching.

Stuff the foot

Turn the stocking right-side out. Start stuffing the toe with small puffs of polyfil, using a bodkin or chopstick to compact it as you go. I’m actually using the metal bar from a skirt hanger, but it makes a nice bodkin!

Use larger chunks of polyfil as you get into larger areas of the stocking. Stop stuffing when the stuffing is about centered in the F stripe at the base of the ankle.

Roll the upper part of the stocking down. Pin the stuffing blocker over the stuffing with the edges folded under about 1/2” and whip stitch it to the stocking under the F stripe. Try to only catch the base stocking fabric so you don’t see the stitching on the outside. This doesn’t have to be precise. Honestly I hate this part so I’m trying to get it over with quickly.

There, now flip the top of the stocking back up and the stuffing is secure forever!

Finishing

This brings us to the finishing touches! We need something to hang the stocking from so you can use ribbon, a scrap of fabric, or some other trim like this twill tape cut to 4”. Fold it in half and stitch it to the back edge of the fur so the loop is facing down.

Now take your lining pieces and pin them together face-to-face. Sew a 1/2” seam, leaving the top open, and a 4″ opening in the side at the notches.

Press the seams open at the top.

This next part is a little weird. Reach through the top opening of the lining, and through the other opening in the side. Grab the top of the stocking and pull it through the side opening of the lining. Now you can pin the tops together face-to-face, matching up the seams. The foot should be hanging out of the lining as pictured below.

Sew along the top edge at 1/2”. Flip the lining over the top of the stocking to turn it right-side out.

Using the opening in the side of the lining, sew the seam allowance along the top of the lining.

Sew the side of the lining closed right along the edge of the opening and push it down into the stocking. Now fold the upper part of the stocking down so you can tack the lining to the stuffing blocker.