Homemade Stocking

     After several years of use, my Christmas stocking had started to fall apart, and I decided it was time for a new stocking.  I wanted a stocking that would be meaningful to me, like my old one was, and not a generic store bought stocking.  Originally I considered buying a plain stocking and decorating it, but then I decided to make the stocking as well and here are the results.

Materials for stocking:

*Durable fabric

*Felt

*All purpose adhesive

*Sewing machine or needle and thread (optional)

*Old stocking or stocking stencil

*Chalk

*Scissors

*Glitter glue

Additional materials for tree and presents decoration:

*Felt in various colors

*Ribbon

*Rhinestones

Directions for creating the stocking:

*Using your old stocking or stencil, trace the stocking shape with chalk onto the piece of fabric.  Flip the stocking or pattern over and trace the other side

*Cut out the stocking halves and turn the halves so that the part you want to have visible is facing up

*Using all purpose glue, adhere a felt strip of your preferred width to the top of each stocking half.  Let dry

*Cut out a thin strip of fabric.  You will use this to create the loop that you hang the stocking up by

*Optional step: Sew the top part of each stocking to prevent fabric from fraying

*Place the two stocking halves on top of one another, with the sides with the felt facing one another.  Fold the strip of fabric in half to form a loop and insert it in between the two stocking halves in the top corner

*Sew together the two stocking halves.  Alternately, you could glue them together.

Directions for creating the tree decoration:

*Find a Christmas tree pattern (a Google image search should give you plenty of results) or design your own and trace it onto a piece of green felt 

*Cut out your tree and adhere it to your stocking using the all purpose adhesive

*Glue on strips of ribbon for garlands and rhinestones for presents

*Cut out squares and rectangles of varying sizes from different colored pieces of felt.  Position them around the tree and glue down

*Glue on strips of ribbon to form the ribbon on the presents

Special thanks to my boyfriend, Brian, for sewing the stocking together for me :)

Update: I found a little star at the Orono Thrift Shop to complete my tree: