Ruffled Burlap Christmas Tree Skirt

My sister commissioned me to make a Christmas tree skirt for her and had a specific idea in mind - a ruffled, burlap tree skirt in red, green and burlap colors.

I did a little research and found this blog tutorial to help me get started.

I had a couple yards of regular colored burlap already, so I bought red and green burlap from Hobby Lobby, 2 yards of each.  I also decided to buy a plain, red felt tree skirt from Walmart as the base.

Step 1:  Cut the burlap.  To do this, I measured 3 inches in and then used a safety pin to pull out the thread.  Then that open space in the weaving was my cutting guide.  (Yes, this process is time consuming.  Yes, burlap gets fuzz all over you.  No, you don't need the entire 6 yards, you could probably stop after cutting 3/4 of each color.)

Step 2:  Sew along one long edge and both short edges of every strip of burlap.  (Yes, this process is time consuming, but I think it'll be worth it, because it frays so easily.)

Step 3:  For the outer circles, you'll need several long strips sewn together and it's easier to do it at this point then after you've started pinning. I think you need 4-5 strips for the outermost ring.

Step 4:  Start pinning along the outer edge of your base.  Do this by just folding a pleat every 2-3 inches and pinning it down.

Step 5:  Sew down that ring, in the same direction as the pleats.

Step 6:  Measure and mark two inches above that ring with a fabric pen (or chalk, as I used).  You can kind of see the chalk markings in this pic.

Then just keep repeating steps 4-6 - it does get easier because each ring gets smaller!

The only part that gets more challenging as the rings get smaller is having the bulk of ruffles to move around while you're sewing.

It felt very good to get this one done and my customer loved it!!