How to Make a Christmas Tree Skirt
Details
Details
Make your Christmas tree look extra-festive this season with a custom-made tree skirt. We’ve got a tutorial for a simple-sew tree skirt that is so quick to make you’ll still have plenty of time for all your Christmas gift shopping!
Making your own Christmas tree skirt allows you to perfectly coordinate the skirt with the rest of your holiday decorations and your personal style. You can use traditional colors for a classic look, go modern with a contemporary print or bright colors, or meet in the middle with a dark red print in a geometric pattern. We decided to make ours reversible so we could switch up our décor from year to year, but you don't have to! Durable home fabrics from Sunbrella®, Bella-Dura®, Covington and Crypton® are excellent choices for this type of project. These fabrics will ensure your tree skirt won't wear as quickly under all the presents Santa will deliver. Many of these fabrics are water resistant, so if your family opts for a live tree spills and splashes won't ruin your tree skirt. We also sewed a handy tie out of binding to secure the tree skirt around the base of the tree.
1. Determine how wide you want your tree skirt to be. Most tree skirts are 44-54 inches in diameter. We made ours with a 44-inch diameter.
2. If you're making a reversible tree skirt, layer the wrong sides of your fabrics together.
3. Cut a piece of string half the length of your diameter. For us, that was 22 inches. Tie one end to your marking tool and the other end to a pencil or awl.
4. Position your pencil or awl in the center of your fabric, making sure there's enough clearance all the way around to trace your circle. Mark the position of the anchor with your marking tool; you'll need to find it later.
5. Draw your large 44-54-inch circle.
6. Cut a second piece of string 2 inches long and attach it to your marking tool and anchor. Using the mark you made in step 4, position your anchor and draw a second, smaller circle in the center of the larger one. This will be where your tree skirt wraps around the base of your Christmas tree.
7. If you're using two fabrics, pin the layers together inside the line you drew for the large circle and outside the line you drew for the smaller one. This will keep your layers aligned when you cut and sew them.
8. Cut out the large circle.
9. With your fabric pinned together, sew binding along the circumference of the tree skirt. We used a Sailrite Swing Away Binder to keep our binding evenly folded.
10. Overlap the end of your binding by about 1 inch and backstitch to lock the binding in place. Trim any remaining binding.
11. Use a straight edge to mark a line from the outer edge of the tree skirt to the inner circle. The line should begin about 5 inches in either direction from your backstitching.
12. Leaving your fabric pinned if you're using two fabrics, cut along the line from the outside to the center of the tree skirt and cut out the center circle.
13. Sew binding onto the straight edges of your tree skirt. You can do this by measuring the edge and cutting two pieces of binding to the exact length, or you can sew the binding onto the cut edge and trim it to size.
14. From your remaining binding, cut a piece 45 inches long. This will be long enough to include two 16-inch ties and go around the 8-inch center circle.
15. Starting from one end of the binding, sew together 16 inches using the Swing Away Binder.
16. Without removing the binding, position one corner of the inner circle in the Swing Away Binder and sew the binding around the edge.
17. Sew the remaining 16 inches of binding together to create the second tie.
And there you have it! A custom tree skirt that coordinates perfectly with all of your holiday décor. Now all that's left is to tie the tree skirt around the tree and load it up with presents!
Are you sewing any decorations for the holidays this year? Share your projects and ideas in the comments, or tag us on social media using #Sailrite!