Christmas in July: Tree Skirt

Welcome to Benartex's Christmas in July Blog Hop here at Sew in Love with Fabric! We'll be sharing holiday-themed tutorials this week and beyond, so be sure to stop by each day to see a new tutorial and have a chance to win some fabric to get your own holiday sewing started!

Today Debby from Debby Kratovil Quilts is here sharing a tree skirt she made using the Homespun Holiday collection by Bristol Bay Studios (with a few blenders mixed in!). Check out Debby's tutorial and then head over to her blog to find out how you can win a fat quarter bundle of Homespun Holiday.

Here's Debby!

I love all things traditional about Christmas. I've been married for 37 years and have been gathering holiday trimmings, decorations, textiles, lights, etc all that time. Throw in 3 daughters and now 3 grandchildren, you know I'm swimming in all things Christmas. I have a little secret: in my last move or two I've misplaced my tree skirt. Gone!

I chose the Homespun Holiday Collection from Benartex for the purpose of making a traditional tree skirt using one of my new templates. It's a super-sized Dresden Plate ruler (I call it the "Vortex") which is multi-sized. You won't need my ruler to make our tree skirt (I offer the pdf of the template at the end of this post), so don't worry.

Well, let me first show you the fabrics, right? I didn't ask for all of them and I also asked for some of the Burlap Fabrics (blenders) which will work with Homespun Holiday.

Homespun Holiday Collection by Benartex

I also pulled out a few Fossil Ferns to see if they could fill in should I need them:

Fossil Ferns, still faithful after 15+ years

I was working with fat quarters, so this is perfect for those wonderful bundles you buy with no idea for a project in mind!

From each of the prints and the blenders I cut the following:
-- One 3-1/2" x 22" strip
-- One 9-1/2" x 22" strip
Pair one 3-1/2" strip and one 9-1/2" strip as you wish, taking care to have good contrast. Don't agonize over this step or get all "matchey-matchey." Sew with 1/4" seam. Press. Make 10 sets.

Ten sets of narrow and wide strips sewn and pressed

Now it's time to cut. Notice my template can flip-flop back and forth with no waste. Cut two wedges from each two-strip set. 

Cut two wedges from each set

Cut 10 wedges with the short strip at the widest end:

10 wedges with narrow strip unit at the widest

 Cut 10 wedges with the wide strip at the widest end of the shape:

10 wedges with the wide strip at the widest end of the shape

Now to sew and join the wedges in groups of fives. Notice that two sets begin and end with the wide fabric at the narrow end of the wedge; two sets begin and end with the short fabric strip on the narrow end of the wedge. Press seams open between the wedges as shown in one section below.

Four sections with 5 wedges in each

Decide where you want the opening and leave that edge unseamed. Select fabric for your lining (I found a Benartex Christmas print from a few years ago, about a yard), place tree skirt right sides together with lining and pin in place.

Pinning to lining

Now trim around entire skirt:

Tree skirt and lining pinned

First sew the two straight sides of the opening and trim excess wedge fabric:

Sew straight sides of skirt opening

Now we sew all around the outer curved edge and turn right side out. Press well

Tree skirt with lining, turned and pressed

Time for binding that center opening. It looked too small for me and so I trimmed away 1" from the curved edge:

Trim away 1" to enlarge opening

Trimmed:

Enlarged opening

I cut BIAS binding from a wonderful stripe from last year, Season's Greetings by Benartex - just enough to surround the opening and give me a tie. I cut 2" wide strips.

Bias strips for binding

And, the final tree skirt!

Holiday Tree Skirt: 27" diameter

Here is the pattern for that wedge. Just print and transfer to template material. I suggest freezer paper. Since you will have more than enough fabric in your pieced units (from the first step), you might be inspired to make one or two more tree skirts!

Free Pattern: Tree Skirt Wedge Template

Thanks Debby!

Head over to Debby's blog to find out how you can win a fat quarter bundle of Homespun Holiday to play with!

And be sure to stop back each day of our blog hop for a different Christmas in July tutorial featuring our holiday fabrics!

Here's our schedule:

Monday: Santa Sack by Chris from Made by Chrissie D using Happy Holidays Snowmen

Tuesday: Tree Skirt by Debby from Debby Kratovil Quilts using Homespun Holiday

Wednesday: Throw Pillow by Kelly from My Quilt Infatuation using Ornamental Splendor

Thursday: Wonky Star Placemats by Kristen from KD Quilts using Santa's Here

Friday: Christmas Card Organizer by Melissa from My Fabric Relish using Frosty Forest

Monday: Table Runner and Napkins by Nikki from The Girl Who Quilts using Frosty Forest

Tuesday: Wintry Wall Banner by Wendy from Ivory Spring using Shades of Winter

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