How to Make an Advent Calendar: Part Four - Mini Stockings

Hey-ho Advent calendar crew! :)

Sarah over at The Little Family of 3 had some nice suggestions of things to put in a homemade Advent calendar. She said she fills hers with little decorations for the children's mini Christmas trees, as well as Christmas badges and a treasure hunt clue for their Christmas PJs. Sounds great!

By now I have piles of little bags and triangular pockets for the Advent calendar, and it's time to add the stockings to the stash!

Before We Begin

As well as the stocking shapes you cut out two weeks back, you will also need some material to make the "cuffs" of the stocking. I used the same white material as the lining fabric. We will measure and cut it out later on.


 Directions

1.  Take the two pieces of outer fabric and the two lining pieces. Pin them together, so that the bottom layers are the two outer fabric pieces, right sides together, and the top two pieces are lining fabric, right sides together.

2. Sew all the way around the outside edges, leaving the top of the stocking open.


3. Reach between the outer fabric layers and turn the stocking inside out. The lining fabric will still be together. Reach inside the lining fabrics and turn the stocking inside out again, so you are left with an inside-out stocking.

4. Now is the time to make the cuffs I mentioned earlier. You need to cut a rectangle that is TWICE the width of the top of your stocking plus an extra two centimetres, and about two centimetres longer than you want the cuff to extend down your stocking.

5. Fold the cuff rectangle in half longways and sew along the open edge, about half a centimetre from the edge.

6. Wrap the cuff around the stocking and mark where the edge of the stocking comes to. You want the cuff to be tight, but not so much that it starts to fold the stocking material.

7. Remove the cuff from the stocking and sew along the line the stocking came to. Trim the excess material from the side.








8. Cut a 15cm length of your trusty twine/ribbon. Tie it into a loop.

9. Sew the loop onto the top of your inside out stocking. It should be along the seam of the heel side of the stocking (as shown in image).

 

10. Take the cuff and slide it down around the top of the stocking, over the loop. The long seam of the cuff should run along the very top of the stocking. The second cuff seam (which holds it in a circular shape) should be against the opposite seam to the loop of twine.

11. Sew the cuff onto the stocking. I had to do this by hand as it was too fiddly for the sewing machine. Make sure that you do not sew the stocking shut, so only sew through the cuff, one lining layer and one outer layer. I used the seam of the cuff as a guide for my own stitches.

12. Turn the stocking right side out and pull the cuff out over the outer fabric.

(Note that in the image below I used lining fabric, not twine, to make the hanging loop. Most of my stockings have twine loops because making them out of lining was far more fiddly than it was worth!).





Once you've made the stockings, all that remains is to add the numbers and assemble the calendar next week! :)




Here's a sneak preview of how mine is coming along (I still need to do the numbers and no, it won't be hanging in the kitchen like it is here!):

I've got some little chocolate balls and some hot chocolate sachets to put into my Advent calendar so far, but I might take Sarah's suggestion and make some Christmas tree decorations to put into a couple of the days. I will also put in a few activity ideas, like going to look at Christmas lights, putting up the tree, or wrapping presents! :) (I think I will like these activities more than The Boyfriend!).

I'm excited now! :)



How to make an Advent Calendar:

Step One - Getting Ready
Step Two - Making the bags
Step Three - The Triangular pockets
Step Four - Mini Stockings
Step Five - Finishing Touches