When I was a baby, my mother made my Christmas stocking. It is red with a green Christmas tree on it. My name is embroidered across the cuff, and the tree is decorated with seed beads and sequins. I spent hours as a child studying my mother’s handwork — especially those sequins which sparkled and glinted in the light. That stocking still hangs at my mom’s house, and as a new mother myself, I hoped to created the same kind of heirloom magic for Bambino.

Rather than recreate my own childhood, I turned to my Scandinavian roots — and my love of all things hygge — for inspiration. I found it in two places: Clare Youngs’ book, Scandinavian Needlecraft and an article from Country Living UK with instructions to make Swedish Embroidered Christmas Stockings. Using Clare Youngs’ stocking ideas as a starting point, I created three stockings for our family — a snowflake, an ornament, and a leaping reindeer (for Bambino, of course). In hopes that other children might join our family, I had also embroidered the Christmas tree which at some point will become another decorative element in our home, I’m sure.

Fabrics

Fabric is really important, and I wanted to make sure these heirlooms would last and look lovely for years to come. We lived in San Francisco at the time, so I headed to Britex which is a sewing wonderland. Both the red and the white fabrics are 100% wool. The white is a wool felt that is so soft and yummy — I silently thanked the sheep with every stitch. It is gorgeous! And the red… reds are tricky. I wanted just the right red — not too purple, not too orange. I found it in this cranberry wool coating made in Italy. I would LOVE to have something made from this gorgeous fabric. For the lining I chose a cotton quilted batting. This gives the stockings a little heft and form even when they aren’t full of treats. I think that body makes them look nicer when they are hanging by the fireplace.

To be clear: these were expensive fabrics. You absolutely could do this same project with less expensive materials. Do what suits your budget!

Stocking Template

First, I made a stocking template for all three stockings. I simply drew a stocking on tracing paper and cut it out. I cut stocking pieces out of both the red wool and the white cotton quilted batting.

Snowflake & Ornament

The snowflake and ornament came from an article from Country Living UK’s December 2011 issue entitled Swedish Embroidered Christmas Stockings. Unbeknownst to me when I was making them, this pattern is also by Clare Youngs! Sadly, it is no longer available online, my pin to the article is a dead link, and I can’t find the author information either. But, I contacted Ms. Youngs, and she gave me permission to copy these patterns and make them available to you!

You can download them from my library for FREE!

I printed out the patterns provided in the magazine article — blowing them up until they were the appropriate size for the stockings. Then using a fabric marker, I traced the patterns onto the wool felt. I could actually see the pattern through the felt under bright light, so I placed the pattern under the fabric and traced it that way. Once the embroidery was done, I cut the pieces out, and then embroidered them onto the stockings using a straight stitch.

I also added the white curls to tie the three designs together a bit more.

Reindeer

To make the reindeer stocking, I followed Clare Youngs’ instructions in Scandinavian Needlecraft. It was a simple matter of cutting out the reindeer, placing it on the stocking, and then embroidering it to stay. Her instructions are clear, concise, and easy.

Names

I chose a font that I liked, and I printed out each name at a scale that would work across the cuff. I then traced the names onto the cuffs with a water-soluble pen, and embroidered each one.

Putting it all together

This is where it gets tricky. There are several good tutorials out there on putting together a lined stocking, but I used this one from Cluck Cluck Sew. And I will confess — I did it wrong. Twice. So have your seam ripper handy!

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