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How to Sew Vintage Stockings With Chenille Fabric

From the 1500's until the invention of nylon in the 1930's, affluent women's leg-length stockings were made of cotton, wool and silk. These leg coverings could be dyed to match any dress, although a proper lady would never be so bold as to actually allow any of her stockings to show. For the contemporary costumier, chenille fabric can be used to make authentic-looking stockings for the stage or reenactments, as it is thick and textured enough to resemble the machine-knitted stockings of yesteryear.

Things You'll Need

  • Measuring tape
  • Old newspaper
  • Chenille fabric
  • Pins
  • Scissors
  • Wax paper
  • Sewing machine
  • Thread
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Instructions

    • 1

      Measure around the widest part of your foot, your ankle, your calf, your knee, and your thigh. Measure from your toes along the bottom of your foot up the back of your leg to where you want the stockings to stop. Add one inch for seam allowance on all measurements.

    • 2

      Make a pattern using your measurements. Draw a large, tapered rectangle on a piece of old newspaper. Tape two pieces of newspaper together if your legs are longer than one piece of newspaper. Cut out the pattern.

    • 3

      Cut out the stockings. Pin the pattern to the chenille with more pins than you would usually use as chenille is a slippery material. Cut out the pattern twice, once for each leg.

    • 4

      Sew the back seam of the stockings by folding the cut-out chenille lengthwise, right sides together. Pin wax paper in between the two sides of the stocking prior to stitching to minimize slipping.

    • 5

      Sew the toe end shut. Hem the tops of the stockings by folding under 1/4 inch and folding under another 1/4 inch. Stitch as close to the original fold as possible.

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