Simply Sewing

'Tis the Season'

Can you believe it? It's already 'that time of year'.  With Thanksgiving falling so early this month, the minute Halloween was over, retailers and advertisements debuted their holiday fare. The Christmas season has indeed begun with a vengeance. 

I, too, am getting a head start on the season. I will be teaching a class to make a Christmas tree skirt in a few weeks and this is the sample I made for the store to display promoting it. I'm quite pleased with the way it turned out. My goal was to construct something that was elegant, yet festive and would stand the test of time. I believe it accomplished those goals and am excited at the prospect of teaching others to make it. 

 The skirt measures 58" in diameter. I made it using home decorator fabrics and trim. I used a beautiful stretch satin for the gold ruffle and bows. While I love the elegant look and heft of the red & gold brocade fabric I used for the top, the gold upholstery fabric used for the underside was much too heavy. It made sewing together the top + bottom fabric + ruffle + braid trim nearly impossible with a traditional sewing machine. I had to resort to hand sewing the many layers together with a strong nylon thread. That took me way too much time than necessary! Though the finished product looks fine, I will surely recommend something lighter and easier to assemble to my students. 

The pictures, unfortunately, don't do justice to the colors of the actual skirt. The closeup shot of the bow captures the true color of the top brocade fabric, which is more burgundy than red. The photo above best illustrates the rich gold color of the ruffle, braiding and bows.