Festive Christmas Tree Skirt & tutorial

My monstrously large behemoth Christmas tree skirt is finished!  I have been wanting to make a larger Christmas tree skirt since last Christmas, and of course waited until December to tackle that project.  I have a few tree skirts including this one, which I absolutely love, however find it to be just too small for our large live tree we get every year.

This skirt measures 60 inches in diameter, and took a little quilty math and geometry to figure out the logistics, but in the end I must have retained something from 9th geometry with Mr. Rizzardi because it came together easy as pie.  With a little help from Google on how exactly to use a protractor (seriously never thought I would need those 9th grade skills again...) I had the dimensions for my large and in charge tree skirt.  

I used a plethora of various holiday prints from my stash as well as some non-holiday red and green favorites.  I didn't get a chance to snap a picture of it nestled quite nicely under our tree, but I am so so pleased with how this turned out, and I'm sure will be used for many years to come.

Quilt Stats:

Quilt Name: Festive Christmas Tree Skirt

Size:  60" round (diameter of 60")

Fabrics:  Assorted holiday and red and green prints

Binding: Bias cut red and white stripey fabric found at Joann's

Quilting:  Straight line quilting 1/4 inch on either side of each seam done by me

In case you'd like to make your very own tree skirt here is a tutorial for how I made mine:

Printable PDF pattern available here

Please note:  Read ALL instructions before beginning

Fabric Requirements

6 yards total of assorted prints

·         (32) 6.5" x 26.25" or (32) 6" x 23.75" strips of festive fabric (choose one set measurements for all 32 strips of fabric)

approximately 1 yard fabric for binding

3 yards fabric for backing

1.  Measure and cut (32) strips of fabric using either 6.5” x 26.25” or 6” x 23.75” for all (32) strips.  Using the first set of measurements will yield a completed skirt measuring approximately 60" in diameter.  Using the second set of measurements will yield a skirt slightly smaller than 60” in diameter. 

• As shown below, if you choose to use the first set of measurements, creative cutting will be necessary when cutting the angles for the wedges, as the cutting line will be longer than a standard 24” quilting ruler.

o   Tip:  Like shown below, align a second quilting ruler to reach the full cutting distance OR use the 6” x 23.75” measurements listed above, which will allow you to make all cuts using a standard 6” x 24” quilting ruler.

2.  Once fabric strips are cut, make one small mark to indicate the center of one short edge (6.5” or 6” edge): at 3.25" from the edge if you are using the larger measurements or at 3" from the edge if you are using the smaller measurements.  Make (2) more marks, 5/8" on either side of your middle mark, as shown below.

• Tip:  cut several strips at one time by layering multiple strips on top of one another to save time marking and cutting.

3.  Now align your ruler from the far left mark you just made to the opposite left corner and cut your fabric.  Repeat for the right side.

4.  Once all (32) wedges are cut, sew all wedges together using a ¼” seam allowance.  Leave one seam un-sewn.

5.  Spread out the tree skirt top on a design wall or the floor.  The seam that was left un-sewn should overlap by about 1/2" as shown below.

6.  Trim approximately ¼” off of each wedge at the un-sewn seam so that it lays flat and no longer overlaps.  Do not worry if more than ¼” needs trimmed, simply trim so that the seam no longer overlaps.  

7.  Baste, quilt and bind using bias binding to finish the tree skirt and enjoy!

Please contact me at sewcraftyjess@gmail.com should you have any questions, happy holidays!