DIY Ruffle Christmas Tree Skirt

I have seen several pictures of ruffled Christmas tree skirts and here are some of the great examples I was keen on below:

This awesome one from Puttin' On the G.R.I.T.S. She even has a link to her Etsy store where she has some for sale.

                                    

So I decided to try to make one of my own but I am attempting to make mine machine washable, so there is no hot glue and all the ruffles are seamed!

Materials:
5 yards washable quilting cotton fabric, I chose a slate grey
a 5x5 canvas tarp from Home Depot

Making the canvas skirt form:

1.  Fold the canvas into an even square then fold again.  Make a curved line using a pencil on a string to use for your cutting mark.  Also mark a curved line where the opening for the tree trunk will go.

2.  Cut the canvas with a good pair of scissors.  Also cut a straight line back side, that will later get tied together with ribbons which will be sewn on.

3.  Unfold the canvas and now comes a time consuming step.  Peeling the plastic backing off so that you can throw it in the wash.  It took my husband and I about 20 minutes to remove all of it.

Making the Ruffles:

1.  Cut 3 inch strips from folded fabric.  I folded the fabric over to a workable length and then started marking off 3 in sections, pinning the entire bulk and cutting across.  These don't have to be perfect because they will be hemmed later but just to keep wasting the fabric to a minimum, it worked out nicely.

2.  Make a 1/4 inch hem on one side of each strip and iron, (don't use starch because you need to be able to move it around to make the ruffles).

3.  Pin the strips in overlapping ruffles one layer at a time, starting from the outer part of the skirt and sew into place.  Make sure to fold over the opening edge in the back to hide the canvas.

4.  Repeat step 3 until the entire skirt is covered.

5.  Optional: Find some washable ribbon and sew or button to the under side of the skirt in the back.  Make sure these line up nicely, even though no one may see it.

Done!  Only took a few hours over several days and for about $40 I have a great, washable tree skirt!

You can try to variation where you use hot glue to put the ruffles in place, you can skip removing the plastic from the back, but remember, if you do these things, you should not put it in the washing machine!  With three dogs and a major party planned, I prefer to be able to wash it, but if you are short on time there are some tricks to make the process go faster.