Are you looking for homemade Christmas tree skirt ideas? Christmas is coming, and today Madam Sew brings you a project that is quick and easy to add to your festive trimmings this year! Making your own tree skirt goes really quickly and makes a wonderful addition to your holiday decor. It would also be a great gift for someone on your list. Using a combination of pretty prints, you can make the tree skirt all the same with just one fabric, or combine two, three or four, or even eight fabrics for different looks. The Xmas tree skirt goes together with no binding or hand sewing, so it assembles very quickly.

Prepare your sewing equipment. You’ll need your sewing machine with a new needle, maybe a 1/4-inch quilting foot and an open toe foot from your MadamSew Ultimate Presser Foot Set, Thread, Needles, Straight Pins (Glass head pins preferred), Thread snips, Rotary Cutter 45mm, 6x24 cutting ruler and mat, optional ruler grip, iron and ironing board, and it is helpful to use a Wool Pressing Mat.

For the fabrics, you’ll need 3/4-yard of fabric for every TWO sections which allows for some fussy placement (2/3-yard if you don’t have directional prints or a desired placement for the print). There are eight sections. So, a total of three yards for the top, about the same for backing, plus batting. Yes, you could do some crumbs or piecing for the sections. Anything goes!

The first step is to make a tree skirt pattern. You’ll need your 24-inch MadamSew ruler to mark lines on freezer paper, or other large piece of paper like newsprint.

Start by drawing a straight line down the middle of the paper 21 inches long. Then lay your ruler on that line, putting the drawn line on the 1-1/2-inch line on the ruler. I’ve moved it a bit off that line to show you in the photo below. Draw a perpendicular line at the top 3-inches long (1-1/2-inches on either side of the first drawn line).

Then on the other end of the drawn line, place the long drawn line on the 8-inch line on your ruler, and draw a 16-inch line perpendicular to the first drawn line (eight inches on each side).

Now you have a 21-inch long line with lines perpendicular at each end, one short (3-inches) and one long (16-inches).

Connect the ends of the short lines to the long lines to form a wedge shape.

This will be your pattern. Cut it out with paper scissors.

I cut two, just to show you how to place the pattern. If your fabric is directional, you’ll need a bit more to fit the pieces in.

If your fabric is not directional, you can place the wedges top to bottom and cut them closer.

Lay the pattern piece on the fabric. I like to use the ruler straight edge to cut the fabric with a rotary cutter, using the pattern piece as a guide, and pattern weights to keep it from shifting.

Cut a total of 8 wedges. You can use four wedges of two colors each, or two wedges of four colors each, or as I did, cut 3 each of two fabrics and 2 of a third fabric.

When I lay these out on the floor, you’ll notice that the wedges do not meet at the ends. This is by design, and you’ll see why in a bit.

Sew the wedges together along the long sides. Again, the opening between the first and last wedges is by design, leave it open. Do not sew the first wedge to the last one.

When they are all sewn together, you’ll have the skirt top done.

Next, layer the top right sides together with the backing, with a layer of batting on the bottom.

Pin well, especially at the opening points.

Cut out the backing and batting, using the top as a guide.

Now you are ready to sew the layers.

Mark a six inch opening on one of the straight ends to turn the piece. I put pins perpendicular to the sewing line to remind me where to start and stop. Sew around the edge, beginning on one opening side, going around the outside, back up the other opening side, around the center and back down to the first side, leaving the turning area open.

Clip the corners.

Turn right side out through the opening.

Push the points out to sharp corners with a chopstick or something similar. Press well, making sure the wedge points are flat.

Using your quarter-inch foot, topstitch the opening closed, working the backing even with the top as you go.

Then continue topstitching all around the edge, going around the outer edge, back up the other side, around the center and back to the beginning of your stitching line.

Quilt by stitching 1/4-inch away from the seam lines on the wedges. The quarter-inch foot with the flange makes this easy, just run the flange along the seam. Begin sewing at the outer edge, stitch to the center, then pivot and stitch on top of the previous stitching line about six stitches to get to 1/4-inch from the seam on the other side. Pivot and stitch to the outer edge. Tie off, and repeat for all the seams.

All done!! Yes, it is that quick! You can make your own tree skirt in an afternoon.

When you put the skirt around a tree, it becomes three-dimensional to cover your tree stand. The opening in the skirt will lay closed. There you are, all ready to be covered in gaily-wrapped Christmas presents.

You now learned how to sew a Christmas Tree Skirt. These homemade Christmas tree skirts make wonderful gifts and are a big hit at the gift exchange for your local quilting or sewing guild. I'm very curious to see what you are making. Leave a comment or share your Christmas projects in the Madam Sew Facebook groups to inspire others.

Looking for more holiday decoration or Christmas-themed gift inspiration?

Enjoy the holidays!

If you are new to the Madam Sew blog, be sure to check out my complete Beginning Quilting series on the Madam Sew Sewing Blog. I’ll be doing more articles to advance your quilting skills on Madam Sew. Subscribe to the Madam Sew blog so you don’t miss a thing! And stop by my blog for more easy projects at FromMyCarolinaHome.com

Carole
Blogging about quilting for MadamSew.com

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