Christmas Tree Skirt

I purchased a 10-degree ruler earlier this year for some fun projects.  I thought I would try it out by making a Christmas tree skirt for my skinny tree.  It didn't need to be very large, just large enough to cover the base of the artificial tree.  The ruler can cut pieces up to 25 1/2 inches long.  I used up my scraps leftover from last year and the trick was getting directional pieces cut so that they were not upside-down.  That meant there would be some waste...or so I thought.

I didn't use any instructions, I just decided to start at the top of the ruler and make the strips 20 inches long. They were going to be skinny strips, perfect for the skinny tree.  I didn't do any math, I just decided to start cutting. So I cut 4 pieces of 6 different fabric then commenced to sewing them together using the same order with each set of 6 strips. Once the 4 sections were completed I realized I needed quite a few more strips; 12 to be exact. I started cutting more and that's when I ran into a little trouble. Either I would have to cut some directional strips upside down, or use different fabric altogether.  I chose to do both. I think that made it a little more scrappy looking in the end. 

After I sewed them together I got out some strips of batting left over from bigger projects.  This is one instance where I don't mind sewing two strips of batting together to make a large enough piece.  Unlike a quilt, there won't be much snuggling with a tree skirt, so I don't see the necessity of using a single piece of batting. No one will ever notice.  

Using a square piece of red Kona for the backing, I pinned the top, batting and backing together.  I do not cut the tree skirt shape out when I get to adding on the backing, I just leave it whole and quilt it.  After the quilting is completed, I then cut away the backing.  I used a striped fabric for the binding and added some large red and green buttons.  The trick is using small rubber bands to hook the buttons together once it is place around the tree. I also added 3 yards of large red rick-rack around the bottom for added decoration. 

Now it's under the tree just in time for Christmas.

Tree Skirt in the Snow

Christmas Tree Skirt

I wanted to make a Christmas tree skirt for a few years now and I finally got to it.  During the holidays it always seems difficult to find time for stuff like this but I am learning to cut out the unimportant and concentrate on just the simple most important things.  The ability to say no has helped me say yes to some really fun things. 

So I found this tutorial on the Sew4Home site and it was really easy to follow. The step-by-step instructions were perfect. Here is the link to the tutorial. The only changes I made are instead of sateen ribbon I made my own bias tape with a cotton print and instead of muslin I used some old white prints I had.  I did have to sew them together to make a backing large enough, but since it is never going to be seen, I didn't think it would matter much how the pieces looked.  I used some whimsical prints and added rick-rack to the bottom edge too.