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DIY Christmas Tree Skirt
My husband spoiled me last year with a vintage aluminum Christmas tree and my modern tree skirt just wasn't cutting it. It was so big, too plain, not me.
I searched Ebay, Facebook selling and swap pages and Etsy but they were either over my budget or just wasn't the one I was looking for. Maybe I'm too picky? Too cheap?
While shopping online for fabric (a girl can't help it!) I came across this amazing Michael Miller kitschy Christmas fabric and thought I could make something with it. I ordered 5 yards in total, 3 to make a skirt for myself and 2 for crafty ideas such as a tree skirt... and yes, now I realize I will have matching skirt and tree skirt.
I went through my fabric stash and found some great solid colors to go with the fabric and decided to do a panel Christmas tree skirt. I had a heavier fabric to use as a backing so I wouldn't have to use interfacing. This skirt was so easy and fast to make I thought I would share it with you!
Here is what you'll need:
* Measuring tape
* Fabric and paper scissors (If you only cut fabric with your fabric scissors you will have sharp scissors MUCH longer!)
* Pencil
* Thread or string
* Sheet of bristol board or large paper to make pattern
* 3 or more colors/patterns of fabric, yards to be determined by how large your skirt will be. I used about 1/2 a yard for each color or less.
* Heavy fabric for backing of skirt, I used about a yard.
* Ribbon, about 1 yard
First thing you need to decide on is how large you want to make your tree skirt. My tree is only about 4 feet tall so I decided a 30" skirt would be suitable. The taller/larger the tree the larger the skirt and vice versa.
Lay your bristol board sheet out and take your calculations and divide into half, mine was 15 inches. Next, tie a piece of thread or string around a pencil and measure out 15 inches (Please change to use your own calculations)
With the end of your string or thread place it in one of the corners of your sheet and with the pencil attached to the other end (time to bring out your old geometry days) trace out an arc. You now will have 1/4 of your skirt. Now I wanted smaller panels so I folded it i half and cut it. I would now have a total of 8 pieces to cut to make a full circle.
Remember to cut the pointed top off at about 2 or 3 inches down, since my aluminum tree base is small I didn't need a big opening. If you have a real tree you'll need a bigger opening.
I forgot to add a seam allowance (whoops, bangs head on table) so I added it in with chalk right onto the fabric. I added 1/2 inch all around each pattern piece.
I cut 4 pieces of the Michael Miller fabric, 2 pieces of red and 2 pieces of turquoise. Lay your pieces out and pin them together in your desired pattern, I alternated mine from solid to patterned. Pin them together leaving 2 pieces unpinned together creating your "opening" of the skirt.
Sew your panels together remembering to leave it open between 2 panels. Open your yard of heavy fabric and lay your sewn panels face down onto it. Make sure your panels are laying flat and even, pin to heavy fabric.
Using your sewn panel piece as a pattern cut the heavier fabric out.
Cut 6 pieces (or more if your skirt is much longer) of 6 inches of ribbon for your ties.
Take your ribbon pieces and place in between the right sides of both fabrics, I placed one near the top, about an inch and half down, then 6 inches down from that one and another 6 inches down for the last. Pin them in place.
Now sew all away around, make sure to leave an opening of about 6 or 8 inches to be able to turn your skirt right side out. Once sewn and turned out, iron flat and sew along the edges making sure to close the opening. Tie your ribbons together as a closing and get your tree ready! Voila!
I really hope my instructions were clear and simple to follow. This was a fun and fast project to do. In my next post I'll show you the final look of my tree, I have some exciting decorating ideas!
