Free Christmas stocking SVG files

Christmas stocking SVG files for names, mantels and gift tags

The stocking is the most personal Christmas decoration: one for each person, often with a name across the cuff. That makes stocking designs useful far beyond the fireplace. They appear on gift tags, place cards, advent calendars, family shirts and pet bowls, and as the shape for a sewn or felt stocking.

This collection includes classic cuffed stockings, stockings decorated with patterns, stockings for pets, stockings full of gifts or candy, and mantel scenes. Each comes as a solid silhouette, an outline version and a two-layer color version that shows the cuff, heel, toe and pattern in a second color.

Styles in this collection

Classic stockings

The traditional shape with a wide cuff, a hanging loop and a rounded heel and toe. Variations include fluffy cuffs, scalloped cuffs, a holly-trimmed cuff, jingle bells, a bow and a curled elf toe. The blank-cuff stocking leaves the whole cuff empty for a name.

Patterned stockings

Stripes, hearts, polka dots, argyle diamonds, zigzag bands, buffalo plaid, patchwork and chunky cable knit, all cut out of the stocking so a second color shows through. These look like knitted or quilted stockings without any extra layers.

Stockings with a motif

A snowflake, a star, a tree, a reindeer, a snowman, a gingerbread man, or a moon and stars cut out of the leg or heel.

Full stockings

Stockings with gifts, a candy cane, a teddy bear or candy peeking out of the top, for a “Christmas morning” feel on cards and signs.

Pets and families

A big paw print, a paw on the toe and a cat face with ears for pet stockings, and pairs, rows and mantel scenes for the whole family.

Project ideas

• Personalized stockings. Heat-transfer vinyl names and designs on plain canvas or felt stockings.
• Gift tags. Stocking-shaped tags in cardstock, one per person, with a name on the cuff.
• Advent calendar. Twenty-four small felt or paper stockings on a string, numbered by hand.
• Place cards. Small stockings on the table with each guest’s name.
• Family shirts. A row of stockings with everyone’s name, including the pets.
• Mantel sign. The fireplace scene on a wood board above the real mantel.
• Pet gear. Paw print stockings on treat jars and pet bowls.
• Gift card holders. Two cardstock stockings glued at the edges, with a gift card tucked into the top, make a neat way to give a voucher to a teacher, a neighbor or a coworker.

Choosing materials

Sizes that work

Stockings are tall shapes, so measure height rather than width when sizing them in your cutting software.

Personalizing with names

Most people want a name on a stocking, and the cuff is the natural place. Choose a bold, rounded font so the letters survive weeding at small sizes; thin script fonts tend to break up below about an inch tall. Center the name on the cuff with even space on both sides, and keep it at least a quarter inch from the cuff edge.

For a two-color look, cut the stocking from one color and the name from another, then layer the name on top. For a one-color cut, place the name over the cuff and use Slice or Subtract in your software so the letters become cut-outs that show the backing color.

Making a felt stocking ornament

Small felt stockings make quick ornaments and gift-card holders.

1. Download the outline or solid file and size it to about 4 inches tall.
2. Cut two stocking shapes from red felt and one cuff from white felt; a fabric blade or rotary blade handles felt best.
3. Glue or stitch the two stocking shapes together around the edge, leaving the top open.
4. Glue the white cuff across the top and add a loop of ribbon at the back corner.
5. Write a name on the cuff with fabric paint, or tuck a gift card inside.

Use the bold classic stockings for felt; patterned designs with many small cut-outs are better in vinyl or cardstock.

A stocking advent calendar

Cut twenty-four small stockings, about 4 to 5 inches tall, from cardstock or felt. Number them with a paint pen or cut the numbers from vinyl, clip them along a string with mini pegs, and tuck a small treat or a note into each one. Mixing three or four of the patterned designs keeps the row lively, and cutting them all in the same two colors makes it look planned.

Patterns in two colors

The patterned stockings are designed for the two-layer color file. The stocking is the top layer, and every stripe, heart, diamond or dot is a cut-out that shows the backing beneath. A red stocking over white gives a classic candy-cane look; a green stocking over red is traditional; navy over silver looks modern. Change both colors in the editor before you download.

Why we hang stockings

Hanging stockings for gifts is an old custom, often linked to stories of Saint Nicholas leaving coins for children in stockings left to dry by the fire. It became a fixed part of Christmas in 19th-century Britain and North America, when stockings hung from the mantel on Christmas Eve to be filled by morning. Today stockings are often personalized with names, which is why a blank cuff is one of the most useful designs in this collection.

Caring for vinyl on stockings

Stockings come out every year, so the vinyl should last. Let pressed heat-transfer vinyl rest for a day before folding the stocking. Wash fabric stockings inside out on a cold, gentle cycle and let them air dry, or spot-clean them instead. Store them flat or loosely rolled, never folded sharply across the design, which can crack the vinyl over time.

Free to use

Every Christmas stocking SVG here is free for personal projects and for small businesses making finished items, up to 500 per design, including personalized stockings. You may not sell or share the files themselves. See the license.