12/9/12

The Flair of the Skirt!

Hey everyone!  Hope ya'll have been having a great weekend, and are gearing up for a brand new week to come!  Some people really dislike Mondays, but I love them -- that fresh new start to a whole week of possibilities.  Well, on to the subject at hand.  I've really been looking forward to doing this post, and knew it would be the perfect post for Debbie at Debbie-Doo's Holiday Knock-Off Decor Extravaganza Party; and because this project was very budget-friendly, I knew it would also be perfect for sharing at Dawn's Creative Cain Cabin for Christmas Decor on a Budget Party.  I'm so excited to share!


For a couple of years now, I had been wanting to make a new tree skirt for our main Christmas tree, but it just wasn't happening.  I didn't give up on the idea and kept pinning ideas, and then about a month ago, I was snooping around Blogland and found this:

It was exactly what I was wanting and I already had everything I needed!  They used burlap,
 muslin, & old lace.  What I had was burlap, some soft linen-like fabric, old "new lace" curtain panels, & an old sheet to use as the backing.

To give the white lace panels a softer and older look, I tried my hand at tea-staining.  I just filled my laundry sink with hot water, tossed in a few tea bags, added the curtain panels & waited........

and waited some more!  It never got quite as dark as I originally wanted, but I decided I really didn't mind just a subtle change.  At least it wasn't white-white anymore....lol!


The Divas tutorial was quite good, & I followed it -- mostly!  The burlap I had on hand is more for crafts and is pretty stiff, so I ran a gathering stitch with yarn on all the burlap strips, laid them out in my laundry room on towels and spritzed them with water.  When they dried, I had permanent ruffles.  For the rows of lace and linen, I simply gathered them by hand as I stitched them onto the backing.  I had to get a bit skimpy on some of the ruffling, because I was afraid I would run out of the linen fabric.  It worked out and you really can't tell.

I added one final row of lace and bound the inside edge of the skirt with some gold grosgrain ribbon that I had on hand.  I added ties with the ribbon in two other places along the open edges of the skirt.


This is the finished skirt!  I just love it!

And this is how it looks wrapped around the tree.  What do you think?
I'm very happy!

Just remember, I'm partying at these fine blogs this week:

Dawn at Creative Cain Cabin for Christmas Decor on a Budget Party

Suzy at Worthing Court for Better Late Than Never Christmas Inspirations Bloghop




17 comments:

  1. Gorgeous!!! Thanks for sharing :)

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  2. Your tree skirt turned out beautiful! You did a great job-enjoy:@)

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  3. Oh my just gorgeous! I want that skirt. You did a great job. I am so happy you shared it with the copy cat party.

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  4. Oh, Carol! It is super gorgeous!!! You are a very talented seamstress!!! You did a beautiful job!

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  5. Your skirt is gorgeous. How pretty and what a fabulous idea. Hugs, Marty

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  6. it's gorgeous!

    if you haven't already stopped by, it would be a pleasure to have you take a peek at my giveaway: http://www.hellolovelyinc.blogspot.com/2012/12/personalized-lovely-giveaway.html

    i hope you win!

    michele

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  7. It's beautiful, Carol! I love it! Great tip on spritzing the burlap.

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  8. Awesome. It looks so beautiful under the tree. Great job girl. Have a great week.

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  9. I just love it too! And I want one. Wow, how pretty!

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  10. I think your Christmas skirt is so adorable!!! LOVE it! I want one.

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  11. Your tree skirt is just enchanting! I love the festive touch.

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  12. How creative are you. It is fab. I love it, and want it. Thanks for linking up at the Cabin.

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  13. Oooh - I just love it Carol! I love the burlap, soft linen and lace mixed together. I haven't tried my hand at tea staining yet, but I've been wanting to. I bought some fabric last year with every intention of making a tree skirt and I wound up just wrapping the fabric around the base of the tree. lol Oh well, it works! Thank you for linking up to the Better Late Than Never Christmas Inspirations bloghop.

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  14. This is so impressive! I love the layers with the different textures. Burlap and lace...it just works!!! Love it!

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  15. Oh my goodness! How wonderful! And the satisfaction of creating it yourself makes it priceless.

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  16. Ohhh, I just love your version! I've seen one with burlap & muslin, but not one with lace too. Perfectly done!

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  17. I'm so jealous! Everything you do turns out great!

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I truly love to hear from you and try to respond to each and everyone. If you have "no reply blogger," I will respond in my comments section and then visit your blog as soon as I can.

Make this a great day!
Carol