Sunday, December 4, 2011

Ruffled Tree Skirt Tutorial and GIVEAWAY!

For the past month or two I had seen lots of ruffled Christmas skirts on Pinterest that I loved. 
{I big puffy heart ruffles of all kinds!}
So when my sweet cousin Amy and I planned a craft day for the Sat. after Thanksgiving,
 it was the first thing on our list of crafts to make.  

After spending quite some time figuring the best way to make ruffles on a sewing machine 
{tightest tension, longest stitch length} 
and fighting with Amy's sewing machine bobbin- 
we had finished our two ruffled skirts and they were super cute!  
And truthfully, super easy!


For those interested in making your own, here's how: 

Supplies:
  • Canvas drop cloth or piece of canvas fabric {large enough to have a 4 ft x 4 ft square}
  • 3 yards of fabric {I used muslin but cotton or linen would also work}
  • sewing machine and thread
  • glue gun and glue sticks {lots of glue sticks}
  • scissors

1. Lay out your piece of canvas. We used a tree skirt of Amy's as a pattern, traced it, and cut it out.  If you don't have one to use as a pattern start by making sure your fabric is a square, fold it into quarters and then into a triangle. Then cut a piece off the end in a semi-circle. 

2.  Take and cut off the tip in a semi-circle for the center of the tree skirt. Choose one of the sides to cut up so that you have an opening in the skirt. 

3. Take your fabric and cut it into 3 inch strips.  I used a rotary cutter and mat which made  it go much faster.  If you don't have one- I totally suggest you add it to your Christmas list! 

4. Get your sewing machine out. I filled three bobbins so that when I needed them I could easily and quickly change them.  Set the tension to the highest and the stitch length on your machine to the longest.  Stitch about 1/2 inch from one side. As you sew....voila! You have ruffles.  Continue stitching until you have a pile o' ruffles!!!



5. Starting at the outside edge of the canvas circle, hot glue the ruffles onto the canvas. Once you finish one layer, start a new one that slightly overlaps the previous one- covering the stitching. 
At the end of each row, I went over the edge of the slit a bit,
 so that it was more finished on the edges of the opening. 



My sweet friend Dory loved the ruffled skirt
 {she loves ruffles as much as I do}
 so I decided to make one for her.  
Since I was going to purchase the supplies to make one, 
I decided to buy enough and made a second one to give away! 


So if you'd like a chance to win your very own ruffled tree skirt, 
just leave a comment telling me your favorite thing about Christmas! 


*Only one entry per person please and if you comment anonymously, please make sure to leave your name and email for me to contact you if you win!

The giveaway ends at 5pm on Friday. 
I'll pick a winner that evening 
and get it in the mail to the winner on Saturday morning!