Tuesday, November 27, 2012

No Sew Skirts for Your Tree



Last year I took on a massive project for Christmas... one of those no sew skirts for your Christmas tree that you have seen floating around Craftland.  Now no sew skirts are the way to go for someone like me who doesn't do a lot of sewing or own a sewing machine.  However, you may want to engage in a Pride and Prejudice (the long version) marathon while you're at it.  

It took many many hours to finish my beautiful Christmas tree skirt. A lot more than I had anticipated.  So much so that I barely got my skirt done before I left for Christmas vacation and didn't really get to enjoy it last year.  Add to the fact I pulled out my Christmas tree only to find that it was topless and we couldn't find the missing piece anywhere and you could say I was more than a little antsy for this Christmas season.

I wanted to show you my tree skirt with my brand new tree and the vision I have for our Christmas decor.  Confession Time:  I put my tree up two weeks ago, wrapped fake presents and got started with the holidays long before Thanksgiving.  Then I tried to take photos.  No matter how hard I tried I couldn't get the lighting in our house to do this well deserved project justice.  

I decided to grab my skirt, fake presents, and a couple pieces of my holiday decor outside to take photos.  I'm sure my neighbors think I'm some crazy lady always out on my front driveway with half my house taking photos.  They turned out much better.

Supplies Needed for No Sew Skirts:
-fabric
-painter's canvas drop cloth
-hot glue
-scissors or rotary cutter


Step 1:  The amount of fabric you need will vary greatly on the size of your finished tree skirt.  I bought unbleached muslin and a white cotton with glitter speckles and cut them into 3" strips. 

Step 2:  Next you are going to cut your painter's drop cloth for the base of your tree skirt.  Yes you need something that heavy to support all of those ruffles.  I used a 5' x 5' canvas drop cloth from Home Depot.  I wish I would have taken photos of how I cut it but alas I didn't.  However,  My Crazy Life has a great tutorial on how to do this.

Step 3:  Start gluing your ruffles.  There is more than one approach to the ruffles.  As you can see I opted for for more uniform ruffles with less volume by adding glue dots about the same width apart around the whole thing.  There is a good amount of space between each dot of glue.  If you want a fuller skirt full of fun playful texture you will decrease the amount of space between each glue dot and probably not lay the fabric strips flat like I did  Start with the bottom row and work your way up.  

Step 4:  Don't give up, keep gluing.


If you can't tell my Christmas decor is fairly neutral with pops of red every now and then.  I think one of my favorite aspects of the no sew skirts is that ANYONE can make one and customize it to their style preference.  I've seen some pretty cute red and green tree skirts floating around the link parties.

While I may not have been able to show you my entire vision I must say, I liked getting my tree out so early.  I actually get to enjoy it and my ruffle tree skirt.  Have you pulled your decorations out?

10 comments:

  1. Tarp huh? That's the secret?! Haha thanks for sharing... I need to get mine made asap!

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  2. This tree skirt is gorgeous! It turned out so beautifully.

    I'm right there with you on the photo thing. I am sure many of my neighbors think I am nuts. I'm always hauling things out onto the back deck to take photos in the mid-afternoon because the lighting is so much better!

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  3. That is absolutely lovely!
    I love the simplicity of it!

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  4. I am going to attempt this. Wish me luck. I just need to get the materials!

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  5. I am going to attempt this. Wish me luck. I just need to get the materials!

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  6. The ruffles create such a beautiful texture and warmth! I like the white on cream.

    Thanks so much for linking up,
    <3 Christina at I Gotta Create!

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  7. Hello. :) Newest follower here!

    Great job on the tree skirt... I just did a similar one. You can pop over and take a look at it, if you want.
    http://www.toddlindsey.com/2012/10/diy-upcycled-ruffled-tree-skirt.html

    Also, saw your previous post on your giant number 60! I do that project with my students each year. It's a lot of fun!

    toddlindsey.com

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  8. Thanks for sharing this great project on Simple & Sweet Fridays.

    jody

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  9. This looks like a massive undertaking. It turned out beautiful. Thanks for sharing.
    Donna @onceuponasewingmachine.com

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  10. That looks so cute, love how it turned out! So classy too.

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