My Handmade Tree Skirt

Well I haven't been doing much new stuff recently between work and the holiday's and hosting the family meals for my husband's family...so I thought I'd post something "old".  I made my tree skirt over 27 years ago for my first Christmas in my own apartment.  I didn't like any of the store bought ones and the majority of my ornaments were also handmade cross-stitch ornaments or antique ones.  I wanted a more vintage feel to the fabric.  After searching for months to find a print that I would be happy with this is what I settled on.

I loved that the fabric had the old fashioned teddy bears, trees, and various toys.  I picked out a per-gathered ruffle to add for the edging.

a red dotted swiss print for the ruffle.  I wanted it to have a traditional Christmas feel to it.

My kitty Patches in her favorite "hiding" spot - she thinks no one can see her under the tree when she sneaks in from the garage.

This is a very simple sewing project to make. It was 42"-45" wide ploy-cotton print. bought 1-1/3 yds. folded it in half then half again (quartered) to find the center. Took a piece of string tied to a pencil and made my arc for the edge. Cut & added a per-gathered ruffle. Definitely a 10-minutes worth of sewing project. To know the amount of yardage for the ruffle - use the formula for the circumference of a circle - Pi R squared. R= 1/2 of the diameter of the circle for those who have forgotten their geometry. I then cut a slit in half way and hemmed so that I could wrap around the base of my tree.

Maybe this will inspire some of you to tackle such a project.  I have certainly enjoyed my "old-fashioned" tree skirt through the years.  My kids think its great that no one else has one like it.  

Maybe I'll share some of my counted cross stitch ornaments and other hand-made ones next.  Tune in to find out as I am un-decorating from the holidays -- slowly.