Burlap and Linen Christmas Stockings

Quick and Easy Christmas Craft, Customized to Match Your Home

Linen + Burlap + Gingham = So Lovely

 

Since last year was our first Christmas in Fairfield, decorating for the holidays was a challenge. At our old house, I had some semblance of a routine, and most of my decorations were bought with the old brick house in mind (like the enormous wreath my husband and brother dropped twice from the second story when trying to hang it). So after figuring out what worked in Fairfield and what didn't, I was left with some big empty spaces. And that's how the Linen & Burlap Stockings came to life... sort of like how Frosty came to life (erg, too many Christmas songs already).

I needed something to adorn the living room mantle, and I was still basking in the thrill of my new Thibaut Ikat Wallpaper, so incorporating the navy was an obvious choice. An luckily I had about 3/4 yd. of navy linen fabric that I had gotten on clearance a few weeks earlier, with the original intent of making some sort of throw with it. Luckily, the motivation never struck me for the throw, and I used the fabric on these stockings instead!

I wanted to do a row of stockings. And by stockings, not the ones Santa fills with goodies. I just wanted fancy, decorative stockings. Since stockings are a relatively simple shape, I decided to play around with making my own pattern, and it was even easier than I thought.  If the thought of creating a pattern freaks you out, please don't!! This is as easy as either free-handing the shape onto a piece of paper, OR simply tracing a stocking you already have! From that point, you're ready to go! Directions are below, but feel free to contact me if you run into any snags along the way.

 

Linen & Burlap Stocking Tutorial

MATERIALS:

• Linen Fabric (about 3/4 yard)
• Burlap (about 1/4 yard)
• Thread to match linen
• Hot glue
• Optional: Ribbon to hang the stockings (I used blue gingham)

DIRECTIONS:

• Cut a stocking shape from paper (I use rolls of mailing paper from Dollar Tree)
• Fold your fabric in two and pin your paper shape onto those two layers.
  
  
  
• Trace around the stocking shape with a fabric pencil (so you can see the lines). Then cut out your two stocking shapes together.
• Pin your stocking sides (right sides) together, paying extra attention to the heel and toe. This part is trickiest to sew, so I used a lot of pins to help.
  
  
  
• Sew around the sides and bottom of the stocking. Don't sew the top closed! Don't worry about the raw edge on the top; you're going to cover it with burlap anyway.
  
  
  
• Turn the stocking inside-out so your seams are now on the inside. Use a pencil or another long, thin object to push out the stubborn parts.
• Determine how much burlap you need by lining it up around the stocking. I cut 4" wide strips, then wrapped them around the stockings. Cut out the burlap, erring on the longer side, just in case you need a little more.
  
  
  
• Using a hot glue gun, glue the front of the burlap on first, so you can make sure it looks the way you want. 
• Once you finish with the front, glue the excess onto the back. You don't have to be as careful here, since it won't be seen, so just do what you can to secure it, taking care that the front still looks right (which shouldn't be a problem because it's already glued).
  
  
  
• Trim off any excess burlap or strings. I added loops by hot gluing twine inside the top seam of the heel side. Then I secured them onto the gingham ribbon by tying knots. This step isn't necessary, but they kept sliding around and the spacing was driving me crazy, so I just decided to create a more permanent solution.