A $4 Treeskirt from an ‘After Christmas Sale’ Tablecloth

I spent way too much time and money at the 75%  off at Target the other day, and found this great snowflake cotton tablecloth.  It’s a nice heavy weight, and I love the red and whites!  But I didn’t really need a tablecloth, and I have been really meaning to make a treeskirt, since I usually just wrap some spare fabric around the bottom of the Christmas Tree.

So this was my quickie project for today…

treeskirt

Since my space for my tree is squared off, I made this one a square, but if you tree is in a more open area, you could easily make it octagonal with just one additional step.

Steps:

Procure tablecloth.  Mine was rectangular and 60 inches wide (and 109″ long), which seems a nice size.  1/2 of the width of the cloth will be the distance your skirt will extend from the tree, so plan accordingly, depending on your tree size/space.

It was also regularly $14.99, but marked down to 75% off in the days after Christmas!

So, you’ll need to trim the cloth so it’s 60″ (in this case) square.  You can measure if you want, but my quick method is to fold the tablecloth from one corner into a triangle shape, and trim the excess. Leave a 1/2 inch or so extra since you’ll be hemming the cut side (so your “square is 60″ x 60.5” in reality)

Next, fold in quarters to determine the center.  Mark with a pin.  Cut out according to the instructions below, then hem your rough edges…!  Easy Peasy.  This is a great novice project, because most of your sewing won’t be seen very closely, by the way…

(Click the image to see larger)

treeskirtinstructionsI stopped here, but you could always add trim at this point, or embellish in other ways…

Also, your excess cut from the tablecloth would make a lovely set of placemats or a table runner!