Ruffled Burlap Tree Skirt Tutorial!!

I'm making a tree skirt for my Harvest Tree and I thought it might be fun to make a tutorial, so you can make your very own Ruffled Burlap Tree Skirt too!! I've never made a tutorial so I truly hope you find this useful! I would love for you to follow along!!

I'm the type who never uses a pattern and I kind of make things on the fly, so this ought to be interesting!

Disclaimer: I am not a professional seamstress!!! User 
accepts all risk, real or imagined!!

Step 1: Purchase your burlap! I bought 5 yards because it:
A. was on sale
B. I had a 20% coupon on top of that!

Step 2: Make the base.....Figure out how big you want your tree skirt to be. My tree is 6 feet tall, but rather narrow, so I am making mine 47.5" in diameter.

I figured this out by laying my tape measure (you could also use a yardstick, as shown!) on the floor underneath the tree and deciding how large to make it.

I wanted it to show, but not look gigantic, plus my tree is in the corner, so it has to be able to fit!! 47.5" seemed about right since I'm incredibly lazy and 47.5 is the width of my panel  there won't be presents underneath, and I also don't have to sew panels together!! If I was making this for a Christmas Tree, I would go bigger!

Step 3: Make a square. I made mine the width of my panel: 47.5". The easiest way to do this is to fold the corner of your burlap over to make a triangle, then cut straight across.

Step 4: Fold your square into quarters, which means fold in half, then fold in half again.....

Step 5: Fold your now much smaller square into a triangle.....just fold one corner over to the other corner. 

Then, fold it over again, so that you have an even narrower triangle. 

This will give you a much easier way to cut the edges. 
Cut off the hangover from the end of your smaller triangle. 

Then, go back and round it off a little more.....

(warning..the fabric is very thick at this point, so use sharp scissors!) If your curves aren't exact, you can go back over and trim them once your skirt  base is unfolded, which is what I did. Burlap doesn't always cooperate, and if you are a perfectionist, I guess you could iron everything straight and perfect, and then cut, but who has time for that??!

Step 6: Unfold one of the triangles to go back to your original triangle, then cut the pointy end off in a quarter circle. 

Don't worry about precision here, this is where the tree trunk will go, and it won't show!! Tip: If you are making this to go under an artificial tree, make the quarter circle a bit smaller, because there is essentially no trunk, just a pole!!

Cut up one side to make your opening! Then open it up and see what you've got! 










Step 7: Check for fit (Optional).....

Just put the base under your tree, and see if it looks like the right size..if it's too big, trim it down a bit. If it looks too small, add wider ruffles and let the first row hang off the edge more. This will give you a few extra inches. Mine isn't perfectly round in places, but I will even it out as I pin the first ruffle on!

Step 8: Time to sew!! 

You will want to sew around the outside edge, the inner circle and up the opening to prevent your tree skirt from morphing into a big ball of twine!! A zig zag around the edges is great, or even a simple straight stitch if you don't feel like using up all your thread! I set my zig zag stitch about 1/4" back from the edge, because I want it to fray a little, just not come apart!! Now that your base is made, you can set it aside for a minute.

Moving on to the ruffles!!

Step 9:  Determine how wide you would like your ruffles....I cut 4" strips for mine (the ruffles will be a bit shorter due to the gathering process), but it's totally up to you. 

Measure your strips, then cut them from the long side of your burlap...this will give you looong ruffles and you won't have to piece too many of them together (hopefully!)!! 




Tip: Remember to make your rows perfectly straight by removing a single strand of burlap where you want to cut......



Step 10: Make your ruffles......First run a stitch (I zigzagged) around one long side of your strip to prevent the twine ball thingie from happening as I mentioned above....

Then, take your strips of looong burlap and ruffle them on the machine...if you have a ruffle foot, great, please use it! I don't, so I just shove my burlap in the machine as I go so it creates little ruffles! 

Do this with all your loooong strips (how many will be determined by how big you are making your skirt, and how wide you are making your ruffles). I made 7 looong strips..... 4" wide and approx 4 yards long.

Step 11: Attach your ruffles.....pin your first ruffle to the edge of your base, the easiest way is to lay it out on the floor and pin away!! 

 I pin, then stitch one layer at a time for simplicity. It's no fun trying to hold the other ruffles out of the way while sewing! 

 Set your second row so it overlaps the first slightly. 

Then pin, sew, repeat!.........
                             All done!!

Step 12: Pat yourself on the back!! You've just made a super easy, darling Ruffled Burlap Tree Skirt!! 

Fabulous job!!

Well, that's it everyone!! I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial as much as I've enjoyed making it, and I hope it helped!! 

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me!!

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