Personalised Liberty Christmas Stocking Tutorial

As a lifelong fan of the iconic Liberty fabric designs, I love coming up with new and different ways to use these beautiful fabrics. So, for my baby's first Christmas, I decided to make a trio of stockings for all three kids—Sophia, Solomon, and Sammy.

Using the new Tilly and the Buttons Christmas Stocking PDF pattern (linked here - it's in aid of Action for Children) I put my own spin on it with a grided quilting design and an applique letter on the cuff.

I used the classic Capel Tana Lawn and for the cuff I used the reverse side of the bubblecord fabric. For the lining I used some of the cotton seersucker fabric but you could use any light to medium weight fabric for that - its a great way to use up scraps of off cuts. If you want to recreate the applique letter you'll also need a little section of bonda web.

Read on and I'll walk you though how I got neat and even quilted squares and how to place the applique letter so that its the right way up!

For these stockings I used a 30cm section of the fur backed bubble cord and this was just enough for 3 stockings. As the capel design doesn't have a really obvious one way design I cut the main stocking pieces out with the grainline at 90 degrees to the selvedge. This meant then I only needed 40cm. If you choose a fabric that has an obvious top and bottom design to it you will need 50cm.

How to get an even quilted grid design

Use a quilting guide

This handy accessory can be used with or without a walking foot on your sewing machine. If you do have a walking foot, it's best to use that but I did manage to sew the stockings with a regular machine foot so it's possible, you just need to be really supporting and guiding the fabric to make sure it keeps moving through the sewing machine.

You insert it into the back of the foot and then can measure the distance between the needle and the arm of the guide to the distance you want your grid squares to be - I went for 4cm apart.

Set up the first guide markings as creases using the iron

Before you start quilting the lining, wadding and outer fabric together iron two creases into the outer fabric which will act as the first guide line for lining up the arm of the quilting guide.

First, I brought the heel of the stocking across the inner corner to create the diagonal and ironed this in place. I then made another crease at 90 degrees to this one by folding it again, making sure the first folded edges lined up, and ironed this in place. It gave a cross crease.

Stitch the layers together using the crease lines as a guide

Put together the lining fabric, wadding and outer fabric together and pin in place. Starting with one of the crease lines, line this up with the arm of the quilting guide and stitch in a straight line.

Once you have one line of stitching, this then becomes the guide for sewing the next line of stitching. Continue until the whole stocking is quilted with lines all going in the same direction.

Then rotate the stocking around and use the crease line that is at 90 degrees to lines of stitching you have already done and repeat the process, using the subsequent lines of stitching as a guide.

You will then have a beautifully quilted grid design. Repeat this for the other side if the stocking.

If there has been any slippage of the fabric as you quilted it and the outer edges no longer match up, you can trim them down. If you end up trimming more than a few mm, you will need to make sure that your lining pieces are trimmed down to match.

How to add an appliqué letter

Using bonda web cut out the letter

Iron a section of bondaweb onto an off cut of the main fabric. Prepare your letter - I made mine 10cm in height. You then need to draw around the letter on the bonda web - don't forget to reverse the letter!!

Work out the correct positioning on the cuff

To work out where to position the letter on the cuff piece, you need to work out that are of the cuff that will be visible once the stocking is complete. Draw in the seam allowances (of 1.5cm) and fold the cuff piece in half as that is what happens when you construct the stocking.

If you are using a fur fabric that has a nap like this one, make sure that the nap is running down, do as you brush or stroke down from top to bottom the fur should feel smooth.

Place the folded up cuff pattern piece on the fabric, moving it in 1.5cm from the raw edge. This will help you to visualise and see where the letter should be placed.

Stitch the letter on using a zig zag stitch

Peel back the paper of the bonda web and gently press the letter on using a pressing cloth. Then using a dense zig zag stitch (I set my machine to a width of 2.5mm and a length of 0.6mm) stitch around the edge of the letter to secure it down.

Then continue to sew the stocking as per the instructions and your letter will be in perfect placement once you have finished!

Happy festive sewing! I hope this has inspired you to give it a go!