What, exactly, are the 'stockings' in your house?

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When I was a child, we had actual socks. Knee high socks that would fit a 10-12 year old. The younger children borrowed said socks from the eldest. With hindsight, no doubt they got so stretched out of shape that they weren't much good afterwards, not that we thought about it at the time.
I have seen suggestions for 'stocking-fillers' that to my mind would be way too physically big.
Do most people now use shop-bought Santa stockings that can take much bigger stuff?
I guess there are advantages and disadvantages to each approach?

Dad's climbing socks here, then hockey socks, but always real socks. Fortunately this is something we agree on so the boy gets an actual sock. It was one of my knee high ones then a football sock.

Rugby sock on the end of the bed. The crinkly, heavy joy!!

It held presents from Father Christmas (small toys, chocolate FC at the top, orange and coins at the toe, small bottle of perfume, tapes (back in the day!), new socks, nail varnish type things.

The presents under the tree were from my parents but with one more ‘big’ present from FC too.

We had brilliant stretchy socks, almost like pop socks but longer and colourful, I suspect a throwback from my mum's 60s/70s wardrobe!
Pillowcases for the santa present
Now my own kids have stretchy woollen Xmas stockings that I bought somewhere. Pillowcases hold too much for my stingy stocking filler buying!

I didn't have stockings at Christmas growing up, but I don't know anyone who actually used real socks! They were usually cute shop bought or homemade things that were maybe a foot by 18 inches? You could pack in chocolate coins, a book, pack of cards, harmonica, another couple bits.
I only have stockings up for the animals now, they have a few treats, toys and new collars in. Kids haven't had stockings since they hit teens.

I had a leg cut off some tights and my dds do too. They also have a red furry santa sack with white furry trim for larger items.

DD1 has a proper knitted stocking/sock that belonged to my Grandad (and was used as DM's and my stocking before DD1). It would come midway up my thigh if worn.

DD2 has DH's old football sock. It is slightly smaller that DD1's but not by much.

We didn't give DD2 the other of the family heirloom pair as we always give DC one empty sock then fill its pair for a quick switcheroo on the way to bed...

DDs have the infamous B&M initial stockings. Its small practical and fun things, like stationery, toiletries, collectibles, seeds, sweets etc. Most expensive thing this year is a battery operated toothbrush.. £6.

My mum sewed us stockings, not huge at all but larger than an actual sock and large enough to hold things like a pair of socks, chocolates, bath bubbles etc. I've done the same for my children. In DH's family they had large homemade sacks and all presents came from 'Santa'.

My husband's long thick wool hiking socks. Never used for anything other than Xmas stockings these days, though I think he used to wear them pre-kids. My sister and I used big thick long socks belonging to my dad.

I tried a knitted pattern sock when by first child was very small, but I found the threads really annoying. Real socks are all nice and knobbly and not too big.

My mother had what I considered a very good explanation for pillowcases. Apparently, they are simpler to fill than stockings which means Santa will have a little bit more time to relax drink his sherry and eat his mice pies

My mum made ours from a pattern in Woman’s Weekly magazine maybe 42 years ago 🥰 She’s been dead 27 years and I still have it - mine is denim with rikrak around it and a polka dot patch on the toe and heel.

We always had a pillow case. As a child I thought actual stockings were relics from the past, my parents spoke about having them with nuts and satsumas in which seemed bizarre to me who had toys and smarties in my pillowcase.
I was about 10 when a school friend spoke about getting into trouble for opening her stocking before her parents were awake. I was baffled that she had one of these old fashioned stockings and her parents made her wait to open it, my parents never got up to see us opening our presents unless we were with family and staying in the same room and even then it was only really my Mum that woke up.

We also used my dads world war 2 army socks. Left at the foot of our beds. Now we use rugby socks. One to take to bed and the other to pre fill and swap for the empty one once child is fast sleep. I love the challenge of looking for things small enough to fit. I get really frustrated when toy shops/web sites advertise stocking fillers when what they actually mean is toys under ten pounds which are way too big to go in a stocking. And just to be clear, all sticking gifts should be wrapped, unless it's edible, apart from the one toy, often a teddy, which sticks out of the top.

We had to wait, then when called we went into our parent's room to open them, whilst they lay in bed to watch.

Yes us to. We'd usually be in camp beds with visiting grandparents etc in the beds and they'd hear us wake and whisper "shhh, has he been?" On the excitement of feeling that stocking while waiting till everything was assembled before we'd start to open.

Actual stockings. I mean real actual stockings. American tan when we were little. My kids have black ones because that’s what I wear. They stretch to fit really quite large gifts and offer tantalising glimpses of the items within.

About 15cm by 40cm here. Shop bought sort of felt numbers.

I think they’re the ideal size because they’re small enough you don’t need TOO much to fill them and not so big that you end up putting massive things in them.

I feel like stockings are for small things and the pile is for the big things so am thinking the pillowcase people have it all wrong!!

@listsandbudgets mice pies, yum yum!

We had felt stockings that my mother had made us. I made the same for DC when they were little.

They look something like this, but not quite so perfect because I cut the felt free hand, rather than making it from a kit.

A pair of my mums old tights with the legs cut off, very stretchy and good for putting in small gifts. It went like this: tangerine in the toes, chocolate coins in the ankle, some pens, and a few bits of stationary, some stickers and some bubble bath! As I got a bit older the stickers were replaced with something smelly from the body shop (in the 80s...come the 90s (teenager) I was too old for a stocking)

Mine was like that! It was half the fun, untangling the presents.

Mine have handmade fabric ones I bought from a charity shop. Maybe 60cm by 25cm.

DH and his siblings had pillowcases, I always thought that seemed excessive but presumably they weren't full. No toe to hide a satsuma in though.

My kids have a red felt sack the height of your average toddler, which I then personalised sewing on their names, some decorations etc. These are filled with their presents from FC. They have bigger and “stocking filler” type presents in them. This is what’s opened Christmas morning before breakfast. Family and our presents get opened at various points throughout the day.

When they no longer believe in FC I’d like to get them a stocking which they can open in bed before we all get up to do family gifts.

never had a stocking in my life . It
just wasn’t a thing in my family. As kids our
presents were on the sofa and chairs in the living room.

cant decide if I’ve missed out on a stocking ?? Realistically what fits in them?

The socks we had could not fit anything much bigger than pack of playing cards, or a small pencil case at a stretch. But that was the whole point - they were a fun thing with all sorts of little random surprises in. They were not our 'proper' presents.

I made DC stockings for their first Christmas - they are about 12/15 cm at the top so I can get my hand in and about 40cm long. They were designed to be not too big so that I didn't have to spend a fortune filling them....