Today I’m going to show you how I made the pleated burlap tree skirt for my Michaels Dream Tree. My theme was an Icy Woodland Dream Tree, inspired by the beauty of an ice-encrusted tree.
I was able to find all the icy, sparkly ornaments and picks I needed to decorate the tree at my Michaels store. For the skirt, I wanted to make something that mimics the ground underneath a tree. The chocolate brown burlap was just what I needed! You can find the burlap in the sewing section, in precut Crafty Cuts. I added pleats in five places around the sides to give it a scalloped edge and to also add some dimension to the top of the skirt.
Pleated burlap tree skirt tutorial
This tree skirt is super easy to make. I made it in less than an hour, and that was with me figuring out the steps along the way. I keep the edges raw so there’s no having to fiddle with hemming a curve, but I do stitch around the edge to keep the burlap from fraying too badly.
Materials:
— 44” square piece of burlap (1 Crafty Cuts pack will give you enough to make this square, and have some left over for another project)
— matching thread
— 2” Velcro
How to make it:
1. Fold the burlap in half and then in half again to make a square, 22” x 22”.
2. Cut the folded fabric into a circle (actually, it’s a quarter of a circle) with the double-folded corner at the center. Your curve doesn’t have to be perfect. I used a ruler to mark 22” from the center point and then rotated it around as I cut.
3. With your big circle of fabric still folded into quarters, cut a smaller circle (again, really just a quarter of a circle) from the double-folded corner. The radius for this circle should be a little less than 2”.
4. Unfold the circle and cut a slit from the outside edge to the hole cut out of the center. I used a crease from when it was folded as a guide to keep my line straight.
5. Now, go to the sewing machine and stitch around the whoooooole thing, ¼” from the edge. This will keep the burlap from fraying.
6. Stitch your Velcro pieces to either side of the slit, just below the circle opening.
7. Now for the pleats. At five evenly spaced places around the edge of the tree skirt, fold and pin three large pleats. This will gather the sides up to create a scalloped edge and give the skirt a little dimension.
8. Stitch the pleats down with a single line of stitching down the middle.
That’s all it takes to make a simple burlap skirt! Wrap it around the bottom of your tree.
