Ruffle Christmas Tree Skirt

I’ve been pinning pictures of ruffled Christmas Tree Skirts floating around Pinterest for over a year now and finally decided to give one a try.  The last few years I have just been using a table cloth as a tree skirt because let’s face it Tree Skirts can be expensive.  At the store the other day I was pricing them and I saw several that were $100 and frankly not anything I thought cute enough to even pay $30 for.  This one I made maybe cost me $20 if I had to buy all the supplies but, I used mostly what I had on hand.  I love it because it turned out one of a kind and it looks darling under the tree.

I did buy a vinyl round 70” table cloth for $5.99 at Ross.  (Probably can find them at the $1 store. I just didn’t have time to go check.) I folded my table cloth in fourths (fold in half and then fold in half again) and trimmed the point creating a round hole for the tree trunk.  Then I cut a slit to the center so I can easily get it around the tree trunk.

Next, I took an old table cloth and other fabric I had around the house and ripped it into strips of approximately 4-5 inch even widths.  I did use the sewing machine to stitch the strips together and then gathered one side using a the tightest tension and largest stitch settings.  You don’t have to do this step if you don’t have a sewing machine and can skip to the next step with the glue gun.

I inquired of 2 helpers to come help me start gluing.  I had them start on the outside on one side of the slit and hot glue the strips just so they over lapped each other slightly.  They were not scientific or perfect in measurement. One of them pulled the trigger on the glue while the other placed the ruffles.  We created a pattern since we had 4 different fabrics. When they got to the edge on the other side they just trimmed the strip of fabric.  I did not hem the fabric and plan to use some fray check on the edges because we did have a lot of loose strings.

I am guessing we had about 2 yards of each of the 4 fabrics and we did end up with some strips of fabric left over.  If you don’t ruffle ahead of time as you glue the fabric down you can scrunch it up as you go giving it a ruffle effect.  I had helpers that were just learning to use a glue gun so, me making the ruffles ahead of time made it easier on them to glue and still get the look I was going for.

Just use what you have on hand or find inexpensive fabric, sheets, table clothes to rip up.  The nice thing about this tree skirt is that it is large enough to completely cover the stand and the vinyl table cloth makes it a nice weight with the flannel backing to keep it in place.  This way my animals can not access the tree stand as their water bowl.

Thankfully I snapped this picture before the tree fell over and everything fell off…yes on to finding a tree stand that works for this big beautiful tree.

Linking to: At the Picket Fence, Funky Junk Interiors, Weekend Wrap up Party , Show and Tell Saturdays , Serenity You, Weekend Soiree,Scrappy Saturdays, Six Sisters Stuff,Think Pink Sundays, I Heart Nap Time, The DIY Showoff, Nifty Thrifty Things, It’s Overflowing, Meet Me Mondays, Its So Very Cheri, Made with love Monday, Martha Monday’s, The Dedicated House,Naptime Review, Pink Hippo Party, Motivate me Monday, Craftastic Monday,Making the World Cuter, Market yourself Monday, A Round Tuit, Creative Me Monday,House On The Way, Not Just A Housewife, A Bowl Full of Lemons, Some What Simple,The DIY Dreamer, The Shabby Cottage, 52 Mantels, Savvy Southern, Southern Lovely,Fresh Eggs Daily, 12 Days of Christmas