Depending where you are going to put the names. You only want to hoop the part you are going to embroider. I suspect that you are going to have to open the stocking at a seam, lay it flat, hoop the part you want to embroider on, then sew the stocking back up. If you are going to embroider on the top, you can probably maneuver the stocking so you don't have the take it apart. I am attaching a stocking I made and put the name on. I actually put it on a "cuff" on the top of the stocking and then sewed that "cuff" onto the stocking. You could also do it that way. By just embroidering on a piece of fabric like the stocking and then sew it to the stocking like I did. Good luck and pm me if you have any other questions.