I did it. Oh yeah, I can cross hang the Christmas stockings off the checklist. Yay! For those of you who read this little blog, you know I mentioned previously that this was a major TO-DO on the Christmas checklist this year. If you’re just checking in, you can read more about that here.  And, after lots of online oogling and book skimming (I’m always reading crafting, decorating books, etc) it finally came to me. My idea was to merge a simple stocking pattern found online with a basket weave pillow design that I discovered in an old Martha Stewart decorating book.

 These stockings are lined, only require a few supplies and require minimum sewing skills to create.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 2 rolls of ribbon.  I used 30 ft rolls of 1.5″ w ribbon and had some leftover from each, including the silver which was used on both stockings.
• 1/2 yard of fabric (this will be the back and the lining).
• Stocking pattern/template – The one used in this project can be found here (thank you, Simply Notable!) and it’s free to download.
• Small piece of fusible interfacing – 13″ w x 18″ L

First, cut the ribbon into strips.  You’ll need 10 – 13″ long pieces in one color and 7 – 18″ long pieces in the contrasting color.  If you decide to use a different width of ribbon, you may need more or less.  Also, I used wired ribbon, but not by choice.  The kids wanted something with sparkle and we couldn’t find anything in the regular ribbon area, so after a little more searching we found this sparkly wired ribbon in the Christmas section.

Place the interfacing shiny side up, so that the fusing will adhere to the ribbon when it’s time to iron in place.  Take the short pieces of ribbon and pin along the long edge of the interfacing.  Keep the sides touching of each piece as you work your way up the edge.

Once all the short pieces are pinned in place, take one long strip and start weaving it through.  It works well to pin at the starting point so you can create a nice tight weave.

Keep weaving until the entire piece of interfacing is covered.  Remember to keep everything as tight as possible and keep adjusting the pieces as necessary.  A completed piece should look something like this…

Once all the ribbon is in place, it’s time to iron the fusing in place.  The ribbon you’ve selected may be heat sensitive so keep that in mind before you slam the hot iron down.  Carefully flip the piece interfacing side up and iron in place.  Be sure to adjust any pieces that may have slipped or moved while flipping.  Mine was fairly stiff even before fusing to the interfacing, but I’m sure the wire had something to do with that.  You may want to pin in several places along the edge to keep everything together, if you are worried about too much shifting during the flip.

Now it’s time to cut all the necessary stocking pieces.  Position the pattern piece over the weaved ribbon (pin, if necessary) and then cut.  Now using the same pattern piece cut 3 more from the fabric.  One will be used for the back of the stocking and the other two will be used for the lining.  Another option would be to use contrasting fabrics.

Match the back of the stocking to the front (ribbon), right sides together.  Stitch a 1/4″ seam from the top of one side all the way around.  Repeat with the two lining pieces, except stop about midway along the longest side and leave an opening, then finish stitching to the top of the side.  You’ll see the opening in the picture below. *If  using wired ribbon just sew carefully and be sure the needle dodges all the tiny wires.  I thought it was going to be more of a challenge, but both stockings went together easily.

Turn the stocking right side out and adjust any ribbon that may have shifted during the turning.  To create the loop for hanging your stocking cut a 10″ piece of ribbon, fold in half lengthwise and stitch.  Now fold the length in half and stitch it to the stocking along the back seam.

Slide the right side out stocking into the lining (still wrong side out) so that the right sides are touching.  Match up the two pieces at the seams and pin in place.  Stitch a 5/8″ seam around the top.

Once the two pieces are sewn together along the top, use the opening left in the lining to pull the outside of the stocking through.  The weaving may get a little wrinkled during  this but it can all be smoothed out easily.  After the outside of the stocking is pulled through, sew the opening in the lining shut and push the lining into the interior of the stocking.  Top stitch a 1/4″ seam along the top of the stocking.

The ribbon Christmas stocking is now complete…