Sew Your Own Ruffled Christmas Tree Skirt

If you've spent much time on Pinterest looking for Christmas inspiration, you've most likely stumbled upon a tutorial for a no-sew ruffle Christmas tree skirt, by Miss Mustard Seed.  Many people have recreated it and I love each version.  So, I decided to make one of my own, but I changed it up a bit to save some money and supplies.  I love the elegance, and yet simplicity, that it adds to my tree and am thankful to finally have an actual skirt rather than a random piece of fabric curled around the base of the tree.

The original tutorial {which you can find on HGTV.com} uses a drop cloth and strips of linen fabric.  Instead of sewing the linen onto the fabric, Marian hot glued it all around so that no sewing is required.  I didn't want to use that much hot glue, plus I thought it would take me forever, so I made mine a non-no-sew {yes, I just used a double negative}.

I went to my local fabric outlet to find some fabric remnants {this should always be your first step with a sewing project, if you have an outlet near you.  I wrote some tips in this post}, and picked up a piece of cream colored canvas {identical to a drop cloth} and some satiny cream colored fabric.  The cost for both was around $15, much less than if I had purchased actual linen fabric, which runs from $6-$12/yard.

I followed the first instructions in the tutorial, cutting out a circle from the canvas, and cutting my satiny fabric into 2-inch strips.  Then, I changed it at this point by doing the following:

1. I took the strips of satiny fabric and pinned them one-by-one onto the canvas fabric,beginning on the outer edge of the circle, folding them to create a pleat.

2. I repeated this all the way around, adding strips of fabric as needed to finish that row.

3. I then sewed at the top edge of the pinned fabric, making sure to keep the pleats I had made.  Once a row was sewed on, I began another row, pinning the fabric about 1 1/2 inches above the last row.  This kept the stitch line covered by the next row of fabric.

Halfway done

You can see how the rows cover up the stitching

I folded the fabric under at the edge of the circle to make it seem more finished

Love the ruffles!

I will admit this was quite time consuming, but I felt like it was totally worth it, because I love the finished product!  I've been wanting a tree skirt for years, and now I have one that I can use forever!

I had meant to have this tutorial for you a few weeks ago, but as you can see from my post yesterday, I've been napping instead.  So, if you feel inspired to make one of these, count on the holiday sales at your local fabric store that are coming up soon and save up the materials to make one next year!

Only presents so far are from my sister

My silly girls in front of the tree

Now, this afternoon, I must tackle the stockings that are almost complete.  Hopefully, I can show you those tomorrow.

What last minute projects are you still trying to complete, or am I the only one waiting until the last minute?


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