When I began thinking about this project I had a "cheap" project in mind. I didn't want to spend a ton of money on fancy fabrics especially since my DIY Christmas Tree Skirt was only going to be seen for a few weeks out of the year. I decided to skip the fabric store and head straight over to the Goodwill. It didn't take me very long to find what I was looking for. I purchased a set of red canvas curtains for $2.99, a large king sized blanket for $3.99, and a cream colored flat sheet for only $1.99. I'd say I'm off to a pretty good start with keeping my prices in check!
Now, because I have purchased random fabrics from Goodwill I don't have exact yardage of fabrics to share with you for this project. But I hope by me sharing the sizes of the materials used you will have a general idea.
Other Materials Needed:
Hot Glue Gun (High Temp will work best)
Glue sticks ( I went through about 6 large hot glue sticks.)
Scissors or a rotary cutter
straight pins
An old Christmas tree Skirt for tracing purposes (not necessary as you could cut your own circle)
Process:
Before you start reading the process I want to note that I have posted a video tutorial below for those of you who are more visual like myself. There are instructions there as well.
Step 1:
Take your base (here I'm using the king sized blanket from Goodwill) and lay it out on a large flat surface. Place your tree skirt (for tracing purposes only) on top and trace around the skirt making a circle onto your base fabric
Step 2:
Cut out your circle from your base fabric.
Step 3:
Take your newly cut circle and fold it in half once forming a half circle. The fold it in half once more. Now cut a semi circle out from the corner that you have just created. (see video tutorial for hands on directions. This circle you have just cut out will be what goes around the bottom of your tree.
Step 4:
Cut a straight line from the outside of your base to the new center circle you have just created. This will allow you to open the tree skirt so you can place it around your tree base.
Step 5:
Take the fabric you will use for your ruffles and cut them in 4 inch wide strips. They can be any length you like. However, I found that longer lengths helps the process move along faster. 54 inch lengths worked well for me.
Step 6:
Start at the bottom of your base fabric and hot flue your first strip over the edge so to cover the raw edge of the split.
Step 7:
Pull the strip to the front and hot glue the very edge down.
Step 8:
Using your straight pins create pleats in your strips. Once you finish pleating the entire strip you can start to glue it down.
Step 9:
Add about a 6 inch strip of glue where you want your strip of fabric to lay then place your strip of fabric down into the glue. Allow the glue to cool before removing your pins. When you remove the pins add a drop of glue (tiny drop) to the top corners of your pleats that will be hidden with the next row and glue them down. This helps the ruffles to lay nicer.
Step 10:
Repeat this process for every strip of fabric and every new row you create until you have reached the center circle. With every new row let about 1-2 inches of fabric hang over your previous row.
Step 11:
Once you have added all of your rows of ruffles fabric you can add fabric or ribbon to the seam to allow you to tie your new skirt onto your tree.
Video Tutorial: (full directions in the video)
