Over the years, I’ve experimented with several types of medieval stockings, to see which ones I like most. I’ve made them from both wool and linen, and I’ve tried two different patterns.
Below are some of my woolen ones. This pair is made of a rather thick wool and is suitable for cold days. I also have some in lighter weight wool, and they fit better into my medieval shoes.
For these stockings, I drafted a pattern that creates a triangular shape below the ankles. I found the basic shape of the pattern in a book about medieval clothing and I adapted it to my size by first pinning a piece of fabric tightly around my legs and then trying to take it off again without removing the pins. I drafted the first version of the pattern based on that piece of fabric, made a mockup from fabric remnants, and then re-drew the pattern in which I fixed some issues. I ended up with this shape:
It’s still not perfect – I think the top of the triangle should end somewhat above my ankle instead of just below it, so the fabric will pull less at the instep of my foot. And I should lengthen the part below the heel, so I won’t be walking directly on the seam.
I assume wool would be the most historically correct fabric to use (can anyone confirm that?), but I almost always wear my linen ones, as they are much cooler when I’m playing with my medieval band at summer festivals. Also, they are very easy to wash and do not make my shoes feel tight.
The downside of linen is that it wears and tears easily, so after almost each event, I find myself patching them. Which also seems to be very historically correct – apparently medieval stockings have been found that consisted more of patches than the original fabric… Which makes sense, as fabric was expensive in that time. So if you go for linen, be prepared to have them soon look like this…
These linen stockings are made from a differently shaped pattern: the first part covers your leg and heel, and the second part covers the rest of your foot. At first I thought the pattern with the triangular part would be more comfortable, as you won’t be walking on seams. However, it turns out I don’t feel them at all. Perphaps that is because I opened the seam to both sides and stitched the seam allowances to the outside fabric, and because the linen is very thin. It could be different when using heavier fabrics.
(Both this and the previous pattern show half of the stocking, so in practice, the second photo below would be the shape you cut from the fabric:)
I find the second pattern to be easier to sew as well, as you can just sew the foot-part on the other part, and then close the long seam from the top to the toes in one go, while the first pattern requires some fiddling to get the top of the triangle to fit neatly to into the other piece.
Regardless whether you use wool or linen, or whether you use pattern 1 or 2, you should always cut the fabric on the bias to create some stretch. This will make sure the stockings fit snugly around your legs, while you’ll still have enough room to put them on!