Circle Wedge Tree Skirt

This is the tree skirt we'll be making at the Feb 20 meeting. In order to maximize our time at the workshop, it would be helpful if participants could construct at least one strip set before the workshop. At the next meeting on Wednesday, I'll show you how to make a strip set. There's really not much to it, but the strips must be staggered, so don't start yet.

The instructions will produce two 50" tree skirts with the fabric order reversed in the second skirt. In the example above, the white fabric is in the center of one skirt, and the same fabric appears around the outer edge of the second skirt. 

Supplies. For the workshop on Feb 20, you'll need your normal sewing items, to include a neutral colored thread like tan or gray. Additionally you might bring your rotary cutter and mat. We do have a couple of mats at Tacoma, but you may have to wait in line to cut if you don't bring your own. 

A 9 degree circle wedge ruler in a 25" length is also required for this project. I purchased mine many years ago, probably from a quilt shop. Marilyn Doheny is the inventor of this ruler, and you can buy one directly from her.
http://dohenypublications.mybigcommerce.com/25-9-degree-circle-wedge-ruler/

Amazon also has them for a few dollars less.
http://www.amazon.com/25-Degree-Circle-Wedge-Ruler/dp/B005MGUHXM

Choosing Fabric. You can use 6 to 10 fabrics in your tree skirt. I used 9 in the tree skirts I've made. You can use all different fabrics or you can repeat one if you wish. Tone on tones and small prints seem to work better than large scale prints. In this photo, I used a medium scale floral with red flowers and white flowers. It appears in the middle of the wedges. I like it, but I wouldn't use a print larger than this. You can decide if you like the effect or if you'd prefer to stick with a smaller scale print. 

I like to add a stripe to my fabric set because I think it adds interest. You could also add washable satin or gold lame for a little sparkle, but you might have to back the lame with fusible interfacing. 

Yardages and Cutting Requirements. Once you've chosen your fabrics, you'll need to choose the order in which you'd like the fabrics to appear in your tree skirt. I found it very helpful to make a fabric layout chart with small pieces of my fabrics taped to a sheet of paper, especially when I was sewing the strips together. Next to the fabrics, I annotated how wide to cut my strips.

You will be cutting 10 identical strips from each of your fabrics, and you'll be sewing 10 identical strip sets. You can choose what widths you'd like to cut your strips, but the width of your strip set must measure at least 19" finished.  

Here are the measurements I used for my tree skirt. If you change the number of fabrics used or the widths of any of the strips from my set of measurements, you will need to recalculate your yardages.

Fabric #1:  3-1/2" finished, cut 10 strips 4" wide, 1-1/4 yard required
Fabric #2:  2" finished, cut 10 strips 2-1/2" wide, 3/4 yard required  
Fabric #3:  1-1/2" finished, cut 10 strips 2" wide, 2/3 yard required
Fabric #4:  1-1/2" finished, cut 10 strips 2" wide, 2/3 yard required
Fabric #5:  2-1/2" finished, cut 10 strips 3" wide, 1 yard required
Fabric #6:  1-1/2" finished, cut 10 strips 2" wide, 2/3 yard required
Fabric #7:  1-1/2" finished, cut 10 strips 2" wide, 2/3 yard required
Fabric #8   2" finished, cut 10 strips 2-1/2" wide, 3/4 yard required
Fabric #9:  3-1/2" finished, cut 10 strips 4" wide, 1-1/4 yard required

In my chart, notice that the total of all the "finished" measurements adds up to 19-1/2", which is fine. Remember, the strip set must measure at least 19" finished. 

Additional Yardage Requirements:
About 4 yards of fabric for backing for 2 tree skirts
4 yards batting for 2 tree skirts
2 yards fabric for binding 2 tree skirts 

You do not need to bring any of your supplies or fabrics to the next meeting unless you want to sit and sew some strips together, but be thinking about fabric choices, and work on getting your ruler. If you have any questions, please call or email me.