I made it past the auditions!!! I’m now officially a contestant on Season 6 of So You Think Your Crafty! So here is part of the tutorial for my crafts! I decided to break up the tree skirt and stockings (and binding). Otherwise this would be a mile long post!
I have been wanting to make my own tree skirt for years now. In fact it’s #99 on my 101 in 1001 goal list! But constantly moving every 11 months or so kind of ruined my ability to craft. I didn’t always unpack my sewing machine or other craft items. Also knowing your going to spend Christmas in a different place the next year unmotivated me to start collecting great Christmas Decorations. So other than ornaments I really don’t have anything. But now that we’re committed to staying here for the foreseeable future I’m ready to commit to a decor!
I fell in LOVE with the Moda Figgy pudding fabrics last year. I should have bought the fabric then, but we still thought we’d be moving again. So this year it took me quite a while to find all the fabric I needed. BUT I did it! I got a jelly roll (2 1/2 inchs by 40 inches) for the tree skirt and a honey roll (1 1/2 inches by 40 inches) for the stockings. Then some yardage for the ruffles and the backing.
I started by laying out my favorite fabrics. If any of the strips have an obvious right side up you’ll want to be aware of that as you sew. You wouldn’t want right side up trees and upside down presents next to each other. Also I made sure I stagared the colors so the blues or greens weren’t right next to another blue or green. Then I started sewing the strips of the jelly roll together, right sides together, using a 1/4 inch allowance. I wanted my triangles to be 24 inches long, so I needed 12 two inch strips, I added a 13th for good measure. I staggered my starting point to create the 67.5 degree angle I would need for my triangles. And I created 2 sets.
I wanted to get 4 triangles out of each set. It worked, but it was tight. I made a template out of wrapping paper and used a cutting mat and rotary cutter to create each triangle.
Once you have all 8 triangle you’ll want to lay them out, playing with how you want each one to look. When your satisfied you’ll sew them together, right sides together with a 1/4 inch allowance. Don’t forget when you sew them all together to leave one section apart.
Now were going to add our ruffle!!! Each of my triangle pieces is 20 inches wide at the end. I wanted a nice full ruffle so I made each of the ruffle edges 40 inches long. I went with 6 inches wide and I angled each edge and sewed all 8 together in a row. Now it’s ready to add onto the skirt and ruffle it.
Figuring out how I was going to get my ruffle to POOF the way I wanted was a bit more difficult. I wanted my 6 inch ruffle to stay fluffy, not get pulled tight. SO I decided to add an extra strip on each side I could connect underneath. So I had the ruffle on top, right side together with my skirt, and underneath that an extra 2 1/2 inch jelly roll strip for underneath. I ran it all through my ruffler foot with a 1/4 inch allowance all the way around the cicle. Then on the other side of the ruffle I layered it with the ruffle and more2 1/2 inch strips. One right facing for the outer edge of the skirt and the second to go underneath
Here you can see the outer strip, the ruffle, the skirt on top. And under the ruffle the 2 extra strips to hold the poof together!
I sewed those two under ruffles together with the same 1/4 inch allowance! Now my 6 inch poof will stay 4 inches wide and stay poofy!!! I’m so excited about how AMAZING it looks!
Now that the top is done I laid it onto the thin polyester batting, and the fabric batting. Then cut the batting and backing to fit just larger than the skirt.
Starting in the middle I first sewed along the seam lines from the center out, skipping the ruffle. THEN I went along each of the seam lines one strip at a time. Trying to keep it as close to the seams as I could I actually decided to go with a zipper foot! It helped quite a bit! Once that was done I cut out the center and started binding! I decided to do a separate post on the binding since this one is already so long so go check it out!
I decided to make my own fabric buttons and fabric button loops for the closure along the open seam.
I pinned the loops where I wanted them and sewed them into the binding.
Here you can see the backing and the binding around the edges. For my first time quilting I’m really happy with how it turned out. Especially with having done all the quilting on my own small machine rather than a large quilter. I know that I won’t be able to do my large Queen sized quilt this way, but it was quick and easy.
I think the buttons, loops and binding turned out perfect!!! I love it! I am so happy with the whole thing! The ruffle is just as I pictured it, I am SO in love with my fabric and it will look AMAZING around the tree! The stockings turned out just how I imagined as well!
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Mandi
Congratulations!!! YAY! That tree skirt and those stockings are totally adorable!! I know you are going to ROCK SYTYC!!
Ashlee
thank you so much Mandi! And EVENTUALLY you KNOW we’re going to have to meet!
Beverly @ Flamingotoes.com
Congratulations!! I’m so excited fo you Ashlee! I fell in love with this set during the voting – it’s fantastic!! Yay!
Ashlee
Thank you so much! It makes me giddy when people like something I made!
somedaycrafts
Yeah! I thought this was super cute! I’m so excited to see you through the contest!
Ashlee
Thanks Michelle!!!! I’m SO excited!
MessyMissy
K, Lady. I am very jealous of your sewing abilities. 😉 Congrats on making it through….I have no doubt you’ll do awesome!!
Ashlee
your too sweet! Really it’s ALL straight lines. Even the ruffle was made with a ruffler foot. Just a LOT of them!!! The putting together part is mostly math. I LOVE math, figure out the angles and all that was SO much fun for me! I’m so glad you liked it! I hope you like week one’s too!
Heidi
That skirt is so cute Ashlee!! And I LOVE the buttons! Congrats!
Ashlee
Thanks Heidi~ I’m in love with how they turned out!
Amy
I have a charm pack of that fabric, I’ve been hoarding it because it’s so cute! I LOVE the ruffle- it’s pouf-ect! And contrats on SYTYC! Look forward to seeing your projects!
Ashlee
LUCKY!!! It’s hard to find! Thanks! I’m so glad you liked my ruffle. I’m super pleased with it myself. hopefully the next craft goes well!
CraftyCripple
The skirt looks fantastic. If I put up a tree I would make one too!
Ashlee
Thanks! we got the tree (although we haven’t had a chance to decorate it yet) and it DOES look terrific! I’m so excited!
the cape on the corner
that looks so great! and i love that you used such color!
Ashlee
Thanks! It was really fun to make, and I am so in love with this fabric collection!
Maggie
Wow – that is stunning. Consider linking it to my Holiday Home decor linky:
Thanks for sharing!!
Maggie
Ashlee
Thank you! I’m goad you like them! I linked up.
Lisa
Wow! This is gorgeous! It obviously took some work and patience to make that! LOVE it : )
Ashlee
Thank you! It took the most time just to plan it out. It went pretty smoothly in real life! I like to go through it all in my mind first… As for patience, crafting is my therapy, I reserve patience for the kiddo’s and their shenanigans!!! Crafting is just a joy!
Dacia
Simply beautiful! Thanks for sharing this gorgous tree skirt!
Ashlee
Thank you so much! I am SOOOO happy with how it turned out!
Chrystie DeSmet
I saw your tree skirt & stocking on Shabby Chic Cottage & WOWIE WOW WOW!! Beautiful work & I too LOVE the fabric you picked!! I just became a follower, how could I not! I’m in total awwwwwe!
Ashlee
Thank you so much!!!! It’s so fun when such a big project turns out just like you hoped it would! And this is one of those! I am so in love with my tree skirt and stockings! And isn’t that fabric fabulous!!! I tried to find a current collection I liked as much and I just couldn’t! I’m so glad you found me and I hope you like what I do! I have a couple of really fun projects in the works that I am SOOO excited about!
HaleyLeann
I this!!!!! I have Christmas colored fabrics that I have been holding on to for years until I found the tree skirt I wanted to make…I found it!! Thanks so much for sharing!
Ashlee
I’m so glad you like it!!! If you make it I’d love to see it! And if you have any questions I’m happy to help!
Liz
This totally rocks! I love it!
Ashlee
Thank you so much! I am really in love with how it turned out!
Mandy
Congrats on making Season 6 – – I had tons of fun in Season 5. I loved your entry. I’m your newest follower!
Ashlee
Thank you so much! Congrats on making it to the finals! I love the matching skirts you made yourself and your girls! I’m kind of worried about how to keep all my pictures anonomous! I live in a very small apartment with no neighbor kids to borrow for stuff. How did you do it?
Karie
OMGosh, I love the ruffled Christmas Tree Skirt. It is gorgeous. I made a ruffled table runner a few months ago. I have go to make a tree skirt for next years tree. Thanks so much for sharing. It is beautiful.
Ashlee
You totally should! And I need to make a table runner!
Summer C.
This is beautiful! I wish I had your talent. 🙂
Ashlee
why thank you so much! I’m not really much of a seamstress usually. But I just HAD to make these once I thought of them! I’m SO happy they turned out okay!
tdynes
So you have 2 layers of batting in this?
Ashlee
nope, just one layer of batting
BettyLou
Would like to download these instructions so I could find them again when I am ready to make this for family members. Any chance of being able to do that? I am not so good with computer stuff.
Chrissy
Do you know anywhere I could get this fabric?
Ashlee Marie
it’s from too many years ago but you can find something similar I’m sure