What's that you say? It's not Christmastime yet? Well, at my house we prepare for the holidays virtually year-round because then, when November and December come, we can relax and enjoy the holiday season rather than become self-loathing hermits who refuse to go out in public because of the craziness. My shopping is finished (just waiting to be wrapped), I'll be making candies soon, but the stockings I was able to do over the summer! I digress.
I wanted uber-cute-personalized-trendy-not-too-christmasy Christmas stockings. Pipe dream? NO. First, I had to find the right "shape." See, we're big stocking-stuffing people and I needed it to be large enough to accommodate my visions of stuffing grandeur! So I did what any great, creative mind would do...I went rummaging through my mom's holiday decor boxes to find my childhood stocking (which is large and sturdy enough to hold an orange in the toe, followed by an apple, banana, bottle of shampoo, and other trinkets-galore). I set the stocking on my cutest-ever chocolate and white damask fabric and cut out my stocking shape. Remember to cut two!
Next step was to cut the lining for my stockings. Again, remember to cut two! I wanted my family's stockings to be all matchy-matchy, but still personalized. Enter: lining fabric! I love red and brown together, and those just happen to be the colors my living room is already decorated with, so I chose different red fabrics which showcased both my personality and my husband's. He got baseballs, I got hibiscus flowers. One day, when we have babies, they will have different red linings. But don't you worry that I've already cut out four more brown damask shapes in anxious anticipation!
Furthermore, I wanted my stockings to be heavy-duty enough to take the wear-and-tear of the ceremonial stuffing-hanging-all-around-holiday-merriment, so between my damask and red lining, I also cut a piece of quilt batting. I stacked my pieces accordingly to get ready for the sewing.
Because I was planning on binding the stockings with personalized bias tape, there was no reason to sew the pieces right-sides-together. Easy, eh? Therefore, I just serged the exterior fabric/batting/lining pieces together. It was pretty slick and much quicker than having to turn them afterward.
Next came the bias tape adventure. I had never made my own before, but it turned out to be MUCH easier than I expected! I used the same lining fabric and
created this tutorial (posted earlier) if you're interested. If not, any ol' bias tape will do!
After attaching the front and back of the stockings together using the bias tape, it was time to work on the minky cuff! That's right, minky. See? You know you love these stockings. I used the heaviest interfacing I could find to put inside the minky. Seriously, this stuff was like cardboard. It wreaked havoc on numerous machine needles, but it definitely keeps the shape nicely! I just measured the stocking opening, doubled its length (for the front and back), and then left a 1/2" seam allowance. I cut the interfacing and then wrapped it in the minky.
I serged the two ends together, and then inserted a hangy loop (extremely technical term). Hint: If you insert the loop the way I did, it make the stocking hang at a lovely angle.
Sew up the loop edge and pin the minkly closed (nice and tight) around the interfacing.
Then, slide the cuff over the stocking opening and match pined edge to the opening. Sew around the edge to attach the cuff to the stocking and...voila!...
...You have a broken needle...A LOT of broken needles actually! I had to include this photo purely because I've broken plenty of needles in my day and have never seen one bend in such a fashion before snapping. Amazing.
Anyway, what you REALLY have (besides broken needles) are uber-cute-personalized-trendy-not-too-christmasy Christmas stockings. I added some layers of grosgrain ribbon and little floral button embellishments.
But wait! There's more! I also found these silver monogram pins which made them even MORE personal! I pretty much love how they turned out. Now go make your own. You know you want to. Get it done before the holiday season so you can enjoy that time of year rather than stress it!
Sew up the loop edge and pin the minkly closed (nice and tight) around the interfacing.
I start by making the hot pad into a long strip (it is single crochet), then I fold it over and crochet around the outside. When making the stripe pattern, it helps to make it symmetrical, and that's why you see the repeat of the blue stripe in the middle.
And this is the finished product! You can also do them plain as you see on the bottom. I have given these on a few other occasions as well, and people love them. They are nice and thick and look nice too. 
Do you have inexpensive gift ideas?
Materials Needed:
First, cut the nylon into a long strip. I make my strip a little over an inch. This does not need to be exactly measured. When I'm cutting my strip, and I get to a corner, I just turn and keep on cutting. 
Next, chain 4 and connect into a circle. After that, just single crochet in the circle until you get the desired size. When working the middle, you'll need to put 3 single crochets in each spot. Around the outside, you can cut back to 2. Basically just put enough stitches in to make it lay flat.
And voila! An incredibly useful item for dirt cheap! These take me about 10-20 minutes each to make, but a good project to do while watching wonderful Christmas movies. 
If you want, you can attach them to a little thing of dish soap and attach a clever poem. Any ideas on the clever poem part?
