Embroidering a Christmas Stocking With a Faux Cuff

I couldn't find any tutorials on how to embroider a stocking with a faux cuff on a home embroidery machine anywhere! So, I decided to create this one for any others who are in the same predicament. All of the tutorials I could find were intended for industrial multi needle machines, which is useless if you have a home embroidery machine. I hope this tutorial is helpful, please let me know!

• Stocking
• Embroidery machine
• Embroidery stabilizer
• Sewing machine
• Thread
• Scissors
• Seam ripper
• Straight pins
• Temporary adhesive spray (optional)
• Erasable marker or tailor's chalk
• Ruler

Faux just means 'fake' or 'imitation' in French. As you can see in the pictures, the cuff is only on the front of the stocking, not the back. It looks nice, but it means that the cuff is sewn down in the side seams and there is no way to lay it flat in the embroidery hoop.

If your stocking is lined like this one, you'll need to open the lining to access the seams inside. There is usually an easy access section of the lining that has been pinched together and top stitched. On this stocking, it also held the tag.

1. Seam rip the line of top stitching over the seam
   • If your lining doesn't have a top stitched section, start about 2 inches down from the top and seam rip about 3 inches of the lining seam
   • If you have to remove the tag, set it aside if you want to replace it later (I wanted to keep it because it had the washing instructions).

Normally, I would have pulled the side seams out through the hole in the lining and seam ripped from the inside to avoid accidentally cutting the fabric, but because this stocking is backed with batting, it was easier to seam rip from the outside.

1. Carefully, seam rip up the side seams just enough to free the cuff flap on both sides.
   • Don't worry about disconnecting it from the very top, that step will come later.

Because this cuff was such a weird shape, I didn't hoop it in the normal way. Instead I 'floated' it on top of a heavy weight cut away stabilizer that was hooped.

1. Using a ruler and erasable pen or chalk, mark a + on the cuff flap where you want the design to be centered
   • Note: it's possible that your stocking cuff was manufactured unevenly. If you notice that things are not lining up properly, decide which line (in this case: top seam, contrast band top seam, or contrast band bottom seam) you would like it to match and align your marks with that angle.
2. Hoop your stabilizer (I used a heavy weight cutaway) and mark the center of the hoop on the stabilizer.

Disclaimer for the next step: I have a pin-able sewing table that has a layer of cork covered with painted fabric. This allows be to stick pins into the table top without any damage. If you don't have a pin-able surface, I would recommend either using some layers of craft foam over a self-healing cutting mat or just eyeballing the centers and making adjustments as needed.

Here is my method for floating the cuff on the stabilizer on my pin-able sewing table:

1. Place a pin through the center mark on the cuff and the center mark on the stabilizer, push into the table to hold.
2. Align the vertical and horizontal marks on the cuff with the corresponding marks on the stabilizer and place vertical pins along the top and half way down the sides to hold everything in place and into the table.
3. Remove the center pin
4. With the pins still in place, lift the cuff and spray with temporary adhesive spray to hold.
5. Gently (the adhesive spray is only holding the lining), fold the flap back into place and remove the upright pins.
6. Pin through the cuff and stabilizer (as in the last picture) to hold all layers of the cuff in place on the stabilizer.
   • Make sure that your pins are far away from the design area to avoid the embroidery machine running over them and causing damage.

Make sure that your design and stocking are rotated properly! I had to rotate mine 90 degrees to the right so that it would fit in the parameters of the hoop.

• Connect your hoop to your machine and make any little adjustments you need to align the needle with your marked center.
• Have your machine stitch a tack down stitch around the outside of the design. This will show you whether or not you need to make any additional placement or rotation adjustments.
• Stitch your design!
  • I chose to stitch on the slowest speed to avoid skewing the design
• When the design is finished, remove the pins and the tacking stitch around the design. Remove the stabilizer from the hoop and cut away the excess stabilizer around the back of the design.

Now that your embroidery is complete, it's time to put everything back together. It may seem counterintuitive, but you actually have to open the stocking up further in order to get access to the seams to finish them properly and invisibly.

1. Using your seam ripper, remove the top stitching around the top edge of the stocking.
   • Skip this step if your stocking doesn't have top stitching
2. Seam rip the lining away from the shell (outer) fabric along the top edge.
3. If your stocking has a loop like this one, remove any basting or tacking stitch that is holding it in place and set it aside.
4. Finish seam ripping up the side seams of the shell fabric until they are completely disconnected (leave the lining side seams intact).

1. With the stocking right side out, reach in and through the hole we seam ripped in the lining at the beginning of the process. Grab the side seam pieces of the shell and pull them back through the hole in the lining.
2. With right sides together, pin the shell side seams and stitch (backstitch at both ends).
   • Make sure that you are catching the side seam of the cuff as well.
3. Repeat on the other side. When you're finished the stocking should look like the final picture when looking from the top.

If your stocking had a loop that you removed earlier, now is the time to baste it in place so it doesn't get in the way when you restitch the top edge.

1. Make sure there are no twists in the loop and pin it over the side seam of the shell.
   • Match the ends of the loop to the edge of the shell fabric.
2. Baste over the ends with a long stitch (4.5-6 length stitch) between the edge of the shell fabric and the old seam line. Backstitching is not necessary.

   • The goal is for the basting stitches to hold the loop in place but to be visible when the final edge stitch is complete

3. Now onto the top edge. Reach back through the hole in the lining and grab the top edge of the shell and the lining. Pull them back through the hole and pin them with right sides together.
   • Pin the lining and shell together along the top edge making sure to match the side seams up.
   • If either the shell or the lining seems to be bigger than the other, don't panic. Just keep it in mind and make sure the larger side (shell or lining) is on the bottom when you stitch the final seam.
4. Change your stitch length back to a 2.5-3.5 (depending on your preference and the thickness of the fabric).
5. Stitch around the top edge being careful not to sew over your pins. Overlap your beginning and end slightly and backstitch at the end.
6. Push everything back through the hole in the lining and it should look like the final picture!

The last steps may not be necessary if your stocking doesn't have top stitching or doesn't have a lining.

1. Press your top edge seam with your iron to smooth it out and create a nice fold.
   • Be sure to check the temperature setting needed for your fabric and use a scrap piece of cotton as a pressing cloth if needed.
2. From the outside, pin the top end as needed and stitch around the top edge with a medium stitch length (3-4) about 1/4"-3/8" from the folded edge.
3. Turn the stocking inside out and pinch the two edges of hole in the lining flat together. Pin and top stitch with a long stitch (4.5-6) right along the edge of the fold.
   • If you wanted to keep the label, place it in the pinched seam so that it held in place by the stitches.
4. With some water or removeable ink solvent, remove any markings from the front of the stocking that you used to align your embroidery.

You're all done! You did it and it looks amazing! Congratulations!!!