How to: Make a Face Stocking!

Last year for Christmas I got a silly idea to make stockings that looked like Geoff and I and our two dogs. I drew a little picture and started sewing. They aren’t perfect but for my first try, they turned out pretty darn cute!

This year, my friend and Goodness worker-bee, Brit, asked if I could help her make some of the stockings for herself, her fiance, Tim, and their Scotty dog, Jacques. So I thought it would be fun to share how we created them! You can definitely get one of these done from start to finish in an evening and they would make FANTASTIC Christmas gifts! Here is all the stuff you’ll need to make a face stocking:

1/2 yard fabric for outer “skin” (or fur)
1/2 yard of quilter’s batting
1/2 yard of fabric for lining
1/8 yard of fabric for toe of stocking and hanging loop
Felt for hair, eyes, fur (if making a pet)
Embroidery thread for nose, lips, eyelashes
Black doll eyes (if making a pet)
A little bit of creativity to personalize the face!
Here is a template for the stocking shapes and hair. Use this as a guide, but feel free to customize and get creative!

Let’s start with the easiest one, The Boy.

Start by cutting the stocking shapes. We made our stocking template out of a paper grocery bag. Cut two of each: skin, batting and lining.

We made the eyes first. Simple shapes to create Tim’s blue eyes. Sew all the pieces together with a little embroidery thread and a touch of fabric glue.

Use a couple stitches to create catchlights in the eye.

Cut our the hair using the template as a guide. It’s a great idea to give the hair your own cut to match your boy! Lay the eyes and hair on your template and draw the other features. You can refer to this when you are doing your embroidery.

Sew on the eyes (a dab of glue helps too), then embroider the nose and mouth. Cut out eyebrow shapes and sew them on with your sewing machine. Pin the hair in place and sew lines to give the hair some definition.

Sew the hair on the back in the same way. It’s kind of like you are drawing with the lines of stitching. Tim is ready to become a stocking!

Attach the batting to the wrong side of the face layer. Baste around the very outer edge to hold the batting in place.

Cut out the toe piece from your contrasting fabric and pin it on the face layer at the toe. Sew a line along the edge as pictured.

Take your lining fabric and sew right sides together along the top of the stocking.

Do this for both sides.

Lay the two layers together like this. Sew all the way around the outer edge, leaving a hole in the liner near the bottom of the foot. Clip the curves and then flip the whole thing right side out using the hole you left. Sew up the opening of the hole in the lining.

Stuff the liner back into the stocking. Sew a top stitch around the opening of the stocking about a half inch from the top. Almost done! Create your hanging loop from a piece of the same fabric as the toe. Sew along the edge and flip inside out.

Use a zig zag stitch to attach the loop to your stocking. Hang it on your fireplace and enjoy!

The Girl is a lot like The Boy, but gets a little tricky with all that pretty hair. We made hair shapes using a paper bag to make templates and cut out three pieces: the back, the front, and the bangs.

Sew a few lines of stitches near the outer edge of the hair, then pin to the stocking and sew more lines to attach the hair to the face layer. VERY IMPORTANT! Do not sew the hair over the edge of the face layer. Leave a gap of that layer near the edge free. This will make more sense in a minute, I promise!

Finish attaching eyes and embroidering features. You can do more of a girly lip and even some eyeliner or eyelashes. Have fun and make it you!

Here is what I meant about not sewing the hair all the way to the edge. You’ll need to pin back the hair to baste on your batting.

Again, sew along the outer edge to attach the batting to the face layer.

This is where it gets a little different than The Boy stocking. Sew the front and back of the face layers together, right sides together. Leave the top open. Clip the curves and turn right side out. The seams should look like the second photo. Unpin the hair.

Sew along the edge of the hair to attach the two sides. Near the opening of the stocking, try to get as close to the seam of the face layers as possible. Trim off any excess.

Turn the face layers inside out. Sew the lining layers right sides together, leaving the top open and hole in the foot to flip the stocking inside out.

Stuff the lining into the stocking. They should be right sides together at this point. Sew along the opening of the stocking.

Flip the whole thing inside out and close the hole in the foot of the lining. Stuff the lining back into the stocking and sew a top stitch around the opening.

Make a loop to match the toe fabric and sew it in place. Done!

The Dog is probably the most fun to make and lets you be really creative with design and materials! Here are the three dogs I have made, Jacques (Brit’s Scotty dog), Charlie (our Poodle mix), and Little Dog (our…we think he’s a chihuahua-terrier mix? Who knows!). For Jaques and Charlie we used a fuzzy, low pile fur for the stocking part, accented with bits of faux fur for ears and hair. Little Dog is made of corduroy! Our dogs’ collars match their real-life collars, while Jacques sports a Scottish plaid in festive red and green. Get creative!

Start by cutting out your layers of fur, batting and lining.

Baste the batting to the fur layer.

Cut out the toe piece…

…and matching collar! You can see a little peek of the sketch we did before we got started.

Sew on the toe piece and collar to both sides of the stocking.

Now comes the fun part! Start to cut out the pieces you will need to make your dog look like your dog! For Jacques, we cut out a mustache, eyebrows, side fur, tongue, nose, ears, and another piece of the fur layer fabric to give some definition to his LONG nose. It might take a few tries to get it perfect. Lay out everything on your stocking before sewing anything permanently.

Once you are ready, start sewing! Just like with The Girl, don’t sew any pieces all the way up to the edge of the stocking. Make sure to leave enough for the seam allowance when you are joining front to back.

All of the features are sewn on!

Sew the lining to the top of the stocking.

Important! Just like with The Girl’s hair, pin back all of the facial features that extend over the edge of the stocking so they don’t get sewn into the seam! Attach the two sides like so.

Sew around the edge, leaving a hole in the foot of the lining like in the photo below. Clip the curves.

Flip the whole thing right side out and sew up the whole in the foot. Stuff the lining back into the stocking and sew your top stitch around the opening.

Time to make our loop for hanging!

Sew the loop into place and this doggy is done!

We had a blast making these adorable stockings that will be enjoyed for years to come! Have fun creating your own face stockings for your family!