Everyday I'm Rufflin'

Earlier this week I mentioned that I got a new sewing machine. I've been a busy girl and have completed two projects within a week of having it. Now I'll finally be sharing one of them with you. I was originally inspired weeks ago by this post by The Johnstons for a DIY no sew ruffled tree skirt. I thought it was adorable, but come on, what do I want with a no sew project when I've got such an awesome new toy to play with?

Mine is a bit different, she uses burlap in hers, but I used only a simple cotton (I'm not a fabric expert but it actually feels like bedsheets!). Ashley also started with an old tree skirt that she just recycled. We didn't happen to have one before so I had to start from scratch. I did this by tracing a bowl (we literally have a charlie brown christmas tree so a bowl was the perfect size), cutting it out and also cutting a slit to the center and a small hole there. hemmed up the edges because fraying makes me feel all OCD inside. I then started making my ruffles. I did two different sizes, cutting fabric in 4" and 2" strips. I folded them in half and then roughly hand sewed them in half hotdog bun style (this is a technical term if you're a teacher).

Once I had it sewn all the way up the side I pulled the string so the fabric ruffled on it's own. I'm sure there's a way to do this with the sewing machine, but being new I haven't figured that out yet. Anyone out there know? Here's how it looked after I scrunched it:

Totally looks like an actual scrunchie from the 90's, huh? After that I just sewed the ruffles around the circle, starting on the outside. I didn't even bother pinning it on, and I didn't measure the ruffles. I like the more handmade look of doing it that way. I alternated the rows between the 1" and 2" strips (remember I folded them in half from the original 2" and 4"). If you've got a larger tree skirt you may want thicker strips.

When I got to the center I cut a 3" strip and folded it over twice like this to avoid those dastardly frayed edges:

I'm not sure you understand how giddy I was to finish my first sewing project. This was a great project for me to start with because I'm not a complete novice, but the ruffles covered up all of my not-so-straight sewing lines and allowed me to easily cover up any mistakes I made. Adorable finished product, don't you think?

There's that Charlie Brown tree I was telling you about. I love Christmas just as much as the next person, but I'm not a fan of all the fuss for a bigger tree, nor do we have the space, so this is perfect for us right now. And I think our ornaments and my new tree skirt cuten it up nicely. Have you set up your tree yet? Any homemade creations to make it uniquely yours?