Handmade Christmas stockings from an old quilt

Make an easy Christmas stocking from a piece of old quilt, using this free printable stocking pattern. What a sweet way to give new life to an old quilt that's falling apart beyond repair, but still has usable sections!

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I sometimes find myself on eBay looking at antique patchwork quilts.

Who knows why, since I'm truly not in the market for a quilt. In all honesty, I haven't even faithfully kept up with repairs on the old family quilts I already have. 🙈

And yet, there I find myself. Maybe it makes me feel connected to another generation of women who made beautiful things with little more than scraps of time and fabric and determination. Maybe old quilts just make me smile.

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But then, there are the cutter quilts. These are quilts (or more often pieces of quilt) that are generally sold off by eBay sellers who know they can get more for several pieces of old, handmade quilt, than they possibly can for one in-tact quilt with a few holes or stains.

I really try not to look at those listings, because it generally makes me mad and sad at the same time. It's how I feel when I see old books being sold off page by page, just for the illustrations.

But, it's hard to filter those listings out, and sometimes I even find myself drawn to them. A couple of months ago, one listing in particular caught my eye.

The big worn sections in the photos told me that truly, this really had been a quilt that was beyond repair. And the sections that were in tact were bright, joyful, and beautifully made.

I loved it, and immediately saw that dear old thing as our family's new Christmas stockings. I bought it.

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After gently washing the old quilt several times to remove an unmistakable scent of mothballs, I had each of our family members choose a square that they loved the most. We had so much fun looking at each hand-pieced square, and choosing our favorite!

I then cut the stocking pieces carefully, so that each person's stocking featured their favorite patchwork piece.

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The pattern I used was one I made, based on a Christmas stocking pattern that I sketched out years ago, and have been tweaking ever since. (I can't leave well enough alone!)

To make it easier to place the pattern exactly where it would best showcase the quilting squares, I cut the center out of the paper pattern, and just pinned the empty frame of the pattern in place. You can see what that looks like in the photo above.

Since the quilt is so old, I knew these stockings needed to be lined. I happened to have just packed up some old crib linens that my babies won't use again since they're both in big kid beds now. (WHY do they grow so fast?)

An old poplin crib sheet was the perfect soft and sentimental solution, to provide a good thin fabric for the lining. Medium-weight denim is what I chose for a backing, but any mid-weight fabric would work well.

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I'll walk you through the process step-by-step in the printable instructions below, but making these stockings is really simple. Two pieces of the lining get stitched, right sides together, to make one stocking.

Then the quilted front gets stitched to the back, front sides together, to make another.

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The liner gets flipped right-side-out, and tucked into the stocking, which is still inside-out. Then the hanging loop gets carefully pinned, upside down, between the stockings, right where the back seams meet.

For a hanging loop, I chose a wide gray ribbon that's both strong and silky at the same time. I think it really complements the look of these stocking well.

Any strong ribbon or lacing will work for making a nice hanging loop on your stocking, as long as it's wide enough to be securely stitched into the seams.

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Stitch around the top edges of the liner and stocking, leaving a generous 2.5" hole for flipping the stockings right side out.

Then carefully turn the liner and stocking out through the opening in the top edge, and tuck the liner down into the stocking. Use your hand to gently push open the seams around the edge, and make sure the liner is nicely seated in the stocking.

Stitch shut the hole in the top edge of the stocking, and Bob's your uncle!

After you've made the first Christmas stocking, you'll be on a roll. Once I found my groove, each of these stockings took me less than 15 minutes to make, including the hand stitching.

The hardest part was choosing exactly how to position the pattern on the quilt to include each person's favorite quilt square, plus some of my other favorite parts of the quilt. I really could have let myself play around with pattern placement all day!

These printable directions will walk you through the process of making your own quilted Christmas stockings.

Have any questions about making these vintage quilted Christmas stockings, that I didn't answer in the directions? Please feel free to ask away in the questions below!

Merry Christmas!

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