Sometimes you need a new stocking—for a new family, new baby, new pet, new house with new mantel—and sometimes you just want a new stocking. Like now. If these appliquéd stockings don’t inspire you to get out some felt and embroidery floss, we don’t know what will. Hallmark Greetings Designers Leslie S. and Lisa H. hosted a workshop for DIY Christmas stockings, and we could not be more in love with all the tassels and pom poms and their fresh color palette.

Stockings are a great opportunity to mix vintage looks with modern touches. Start with a traditional palette and standard shape, and throw in some updated colors and on-trend embellishments. We used shades of red, green, and white, then added gray and mustard yellow as our wild cards.

You know your holiday vibe—just wander the aisles of the craft store and find your colors.

DIY CHRISTMAS STOCKINGS: WHAT YOU’LL NEED

• Wool-blended felt: Use this for the base, because it’s stronger and will last longer.
• Poly felt: This works great for cut-out appliqués. We chose modern shapes, like plus signs, dots, scalloped borders, and starbursts.
• Embroidery floss
• Yarn
• Bakers Twine
• Trims: Pom-poms, tiny pom-poms, rick-rack
• Embellishments: Sequins, beads, buttons
• Stencils and cardboard (for yarn-wrapped letters)
• White glue (for yarn-wrapped letters)
• Chalk (for sketching designs on your stocking)
• Ruler
• Scissors
• Craft knife
• Sewing needles
• Sewing machine, if you’re fancy
• Liquid Stitch (as a back-up if you get tired of sewing)

Pro-tips for choosing your colors

• Limit your color palette—especially if you’re making multiple stockings and want them to hang together. (See what we did there?)
• Look at patterns on fabric and gift wrap—even favorite Christmas cards—for inspiration. Or start with your home decor and add traditional holiday colors.
• If you stay within a family of colors, you can boldly mix materials—old and new, shiny and matte, organic and kitch-y.

HOW TO MAKE A DIY CHRISTMAS STOCKING

• Cut out a basic stocking shape. (Here’s our template.)
• Make a plan: Sketch your designs. Or lay out the pieces you want to use. Or improvise—even if you sew things on, you can always snip them off.
• Sew embellishments to the front piece of the stocking before you sew the edges together.
• Use a blanket stitch to sew the front and back of the stocking together.

Pro Tips for faking a cuff

Why complicate the construction? Create the illusion by adding trim where the bottom of the cuff would be. Or add a piece of fabric to the front of the stocking that looks like a cuff—without the bulk and folding-over.

ATTACHING APPLIQUÉS WITH EMBROIDERY

We used all sorts of simple embroidery stitches to pretty-up the stockings. Some to try:

• Running stitch for adding pinstripes the length of the stocking
• Blanket stitch for connecting the front to the back
• Appliqué stitch for attaching shapes to the base
• French knots for tiny dots
• Star stitch for making sequins extra-fancy

ADDING POM-POMS AND TASSELS

Go nuts with these. Seriously. You cannot have enough. You can buy them, of course, but they’re easy to make, too. (Look here for pom-poms and here for tassels.)

HOW TO WRAP A LETTER WITH YARN

This is an adorable and easy way to personalize your stocking:

• Use a craft knife to cut an initial out of thick cardboard.
• Choose a starting point, and cover about a half-inch of the front and back of the cardboard with a thin layer of glue.
• Starting on the back, wrap the yarn around the letter until you’ve almost covered the glue.
• Add a little more glue on the back only, and continue wrapping until most of the letter is covered.
• When you’re close to the end, finish by adding glue to the front and back of the letter, then wrapping the last bit of yarn and trimming the end.

Sometimes it’s a good idea to stop working on a piece of art when you wonder if you should add one more piece. With these, we say “add it.” You can always take it off later.

We’ve decided our whole family needs new DIY Christmas stockings. What about you? Show us what you make! Share with us on Facebook or tag us on Instagram!

Oh, and how about some stocking stuffers?

You’ve got to fill your DIY Christmas stockings with something, and we have some recommendations! A few of our faves:

• Pink Marble Planner Calendar
• Flower Paintings Desktop Calendar
• Namaste Paperback Journal
• Modern Shapes 3-Pack Notebooks
• Modern Shapes Pen
• Haute Girls™ Glass Magnets

You know jewelry always fits:

• Pave Circle Stud Earrings
• Slider Necklace in Tri-Tone Sterling Silver
• Sterling Silver Birthstone Crystal Pendant Necklace

And because chocolate is always right:

• Set of 3 Cocoa Tins (with cocoa in them, of course)

Want more Christmas everything?! We got you.

Photography: Hallmark Photographer Pat B. | Styling: Hallmark Stylist Cindy M.

— Leslie S.