Holly Leaf Christmas Tree Skirt DIY

In keeping with my tradition of making a Christmas tree skirt every year, this year I was inspired by the tree skirt I found online at Pier1. 

I already had crushed velvet fabric (although not in the color pictured) I picked up last year to make velvet pumpkins.  That didn't happen so the fabric came in handy this year using it for my skirt. The tree skirt was quite easy to make and is really a no-sew except for the silver bells I tacked on the hollies. I chose to use wide metallic ribbon instead of fabric for the holly.  It was much cheaper and thicker than fabric and was available in the regular ribbon section at Hobby Lobby @50% off that day.


Materials used:

• 1 1/2 yds of crushed panne velvet (JoAnn)
• 2 rolls (18ft each) of 4" wide silver metallic ribbon (Hobby Lobby)
• 1 pkg Wonder-Under paper backed fusible web (JoAnn)
• Bells
• Holly pattern
• Scissors
• Iron

To get started,  I made a plain round skirt using the same easy and quick technique as before with my snowflake treeskirt  and my poinsettia treeskirt so I'm not going into any details here.

The  crushed velvet fabric doesn't fray so I didn't finish the back closing edges (keeping with the no-sew) and the round edges were covered and sealed by fusing on the holly leaves.

Next, I drew a very large holly leaf pattern on cardstock and cutout.  Then, I followed the directions for pressing wonder-under onto the ribbon, and after

drew 33 hollies on the paper backing. Each leaf was approximately 9 1/2 inches long and I was able to make 21 from a 18 feet roll of ribbon and 12 from the second roll.  

Once I had most of the hollies cut out from the first ribbon roll, I started ironing the leaves on the edge following the fusible web directions and the pattern of leaf placement of the skirt from Pier1. During the process of fusing the fabric onto the velvet, I added a line crease while the fabric was warm (using the back of an xacto knife) in the center of the leaf for a more dimensional look.  

(Sorry, it's been raining and gloomy for a few days so the coloring in the photos is a bit off)

And finally, I added three silver bells to the grouped leaves.

The skirt looks so glamorous at night under the lit white tree with the purple ornaments.

I can't decide which one I like the best of the three Christmas treeskirts I've made so far.   I do know Pier1 also has a matching mantel scarf - maybe I'll just start another tradition. Stay tuned!

Take a little time to enjoy

and

Happy Holiday Crafting!

Linking To:  http://canarystreetcrafts.com/turn-shine-no-11/

Poinsettia Tree Skirt

I know it's a bit too early for Christmas, but you know when you see something that catches your eye and you can't seem to get it out of your mind and you just have to do something about it?  Well, that's what happened to me. Christmas is everywhere.  In the stores and online.  I was looking at Christmas decor on the Neiman Marcus website and came across a very expensive Floral Tree Skirt.

"Artisan" Overlapping Floral Tree Skirt

The skirt reminded me of a Christmas in July post by Yvonne of StoneGable in which she featured a beautiful white Poinsettia Christmas Stocking made out of felt.  I was truly inspired and pinned the stocking for future reference.  When I saw the Neiman Marcus tree skirt, I knew I could make one using Yvonne's tutorial for the poinsettia flower.  I also looked online for directions to make a tree skirt and found one I could make in ten minutes by Martha Stewart.

  
To make the skirt, you will 
Need:

Fleece  (I used Fleece which is much softer, instead of felt , 60 square inches)
1 bulldog clip
String
Pencil ( I used a pencil so I could see the lines on the white fleece) or Tailor's chalk
Scissors
Small plate

1. Fold the fleece or felt in half to create a triangle. Fold the triangle in half to create another smaller triangle.

 2. Use the bulldog clip to attach one end of a long string to the folded corner of the fabric. Tie the string to  the top of the pencil. Holding the string taut, swing your "compass" from edge to edge in a quarter-circle, drawing an arc with the pencil. Cut along the pencil marks.

 3. With the fabric still folded and using the small plate as a guide, trace an arc onto the folded, 90-degree corner of the felt. Leave it folded, and use scissors to cut along the trace marks.

4. Unfold the fleece halfway, and cut a slit along one of the folds from the edge of the circle cutout in the middle to the edge of the fleece.
5. Set the skirt aside while you make the poinsettia flowers.


I chose fleece for this project because the felt in the fabric stores near me looked awful and hard in comparison to the fleece which was much softer.  I was able to get it for 50 percent off, plus an additional "senior discount". The skirt is 60 inches in diameter and it needed forty-four poinsettia flowers (whew) to completely cover the edges of the skirt. I purchased a total of four yards of white fleece for both the skirt and flowers.


To make the poinsettia flower:
12 large leaves
12 medium  leaves
 6 small leaves
 1 3" circle
    Tacky fabric glue

Using Yvonne's tutorial as a guide, (I had to tweak her directions since I had to make so many poinsettias, and use every inch of fabric).  I needed a poinsettia pattern to follow because I can't draw or cut freehand.  I used the same pattern for all three of the leaf sizes and just adjusted them in Microsoft Word. 

To start,  I cut 3",  2 1/2", and 2" wide strips of folded fleece.

 Next I cut the 3" and 2" strips into 1 1/4 wide rectangles. The 2" strip, 1" wide rectangles. Once I had a rectangle for each size, I used that as a pattern and was able to quickly cut out all the rectangles. For each flower I made piles of twelve large rectangles, twelve medium rectangles and six small rectangles.

I then cut each rectangle using the leaf patterns.
I used a small 7oz. plastic cup to draw a 3" circle. I cut out 8 at a time.

Then I had to:

• Glue six large leaves to the circle
• Glue the next six large leaves between the first group of leaves
• Glue six medium leaves on top of and between the large leaves
• Glue six medium leaves on top of and between the first group of medium leaves
• Glue the six small leaves on top of and between the medium leaves
• Take the small tip of my finger and push down into the center of the poinsettia for additional stability and fluffiness

 To fill the bottom of the skirt, you'll need to make at least forty or more. I laid out the flowers just at the edge of the skirt and glued them down with fabric glue.  A sixty inch circle is rather large.   Cutting and putting the flowers together became very tedious for me. Some days I would just make a few, other days I would make more.  It seemed like I would never finish.  But I did.

And I love it!
Can't wait until I decorate for the holidays  .   .    .

Enjoy!