DIY Christmas 2013 Stockings : Easy Ideas

This holiday season, dress up your fireplace or bannister with one-of-a-kind, DIY stockings. 

By : Brian Patrick Flynn

This green and black stocking features small, wardrobe-inspired touches. The cuff is made from plaid fabric cut to size and is attached with iron on adhesive tape, while the front showcases leather toggles normally seen on coats and jackets. Elements of apparel are excellent ways to bring couture touches to stockings bought off the shelf.

Bring a warm, tailored touch to your mantel with menswear stockings. Choose herringbone, houndstooth, check, plaid or stripes made of cotton, wool or velvet in masculine tones. Cut the fabric to size using a basic template from the Internet, then either sew the edges with thread or fuse them together using iron-on adhesive tape.

Felt is one of the easiest fabrics to work with. The stiffness of felt makes it easy to trace and cut shapes, letters or silhouettes. Hang custom name stockings made entirely from felt that are equal parts personal and poppy. To identify each stocking, cut family members' names or initials out of felt, and adhere them to the stocking with fabric glue.

Give your stocking 3-D flair with house letter embellishments. Choose a specific style stocking, then decide on a coordinating font and finish. For a classic, masculine appeal, add a tarnished brass X to a plaid stocking with gold thread and a needle. Since the thread and house letter are similar in tone, the thread virtually disappears, resulting in a seamless, tailored look.

Coffee lovers will especially love the look and feel of repurposed burlap coffee bean sack stockings. To find them locally, simply ask your neighborhood coffee house for any discarded sacks they may have in the back. Many times, the staff will be more than happy to give them away for free. Coffee bean sacks can also be found online for approximately $5 per sack.

Fabric trim is another quick and easy way to add a custom touch to stockings. Design Star season 7 contestant Britany Simon created this feminine stocking for a young girl by dressing it up with tassel trim.

Make it modern this holiday season with graphic felt silhouette stockings. Decide on a holiday shape that's easy to identify, trace it directly onto colored felt with a marker, cut it out with scissors and attach to a felt stocking body with fabric glue.

Put your old jeans to good use this Christmas as casual, farmhouse-chic stockings. Once the fabric is cut to size, consider adding another layer of interest with a holiday-inspired fabric on pockets or sewn on as patches.

Give Dad something classic and nostalgic for the mantel this season with a varsity letter stocking. Buy vintage varsity letters online, and iron them on to the front of a basic or handmade stocking, or try stitching them by hand with a needle and thread.

If you've got old sweaters taking up room in your closet or dresser, give them new life this holiday season as warm, welcoming stockings. This can be a DIY project by deconstructing the sweater, tracing a stocking template directly onto it and sewing cut pieces together with yarn. For best results, drop the sweater off with a local tailor or your local dry cleaner for a minimal fee. Knit pieces require a higher level of skill for sewing than more malleable fabrics such as felt or cotton.

The texture of burlap can instantly warm up a room and add rustic appeal to your holiday decor. Give burlap a colorful, graphic update with a painted pattern. To do this, create a stencil in your desired pattern, place the stencil on top of the burlap and paint the pattern with a detail brush and acrylic paint.

Bring a touch of classic femininity to your mantel with a women's wear-inspired stocking. Find a fashion based pattern that works well with holiday decor, and add fashion accessories such as cameos or brooches for an elegant touch.