Ruffle Tree Skirt - I want to make this. . .

I found the tutorial for this here at Prudent Baby -- It is SO cute.

1. Cut a 44" diameter circle from a large piece of felt, fleece, or wool. An old blanket would work well but you can also use a sheet in a pinch. To draw a circle, pin one end of a string to the center of the fabric and tie a marker to the other end (22" out.) With string stretched to the max, draw your circle.

2. Draw a straight line out from the center to the edge of the circle. Repeat 3 times at 90 degrees to make a "+"

3. Ignore that you can't see the "+". Mark 3" out on each line and draw a 3" radius (6" diameter) circle out from center.

4. Now draw a circle 7" out from center. Repeat 3 more times adding 4" to the circle each time. Your last section will be less than 4"

5. Cut up one of the lines and cut out the center circle.

6. Compose your fabric layout. I love the way different fabrics look in the rows but I think this would also look really nice in all one color, especially white. A sheet would be really cost effective! At the very least use inexpensive broadcloth with maybe an accent of designer fabric.

You want to end up with strips that are 6" tall when finished so if you are going to leave the edge raw or do a rolled hem, just cut them 6". If you are going to hem them, add seam allowance.

Your measurements may vary but for rough planning purposes, I used...

2 - 6"x42" strips for center
4 - 6"x42" strips for row 2
6 - 6"x42" strips for row 3
7 - 6"x42" strips for row 4
8 - 6"x42" strips for row 5

7. Along the top of each strip trim with pinking shears. This wont show on the finished piece.

8. And I finished the bottom of each strip with a rolled hem on the serger.

9. At the end of each row, I ran the hem out a few extra inches before cutting off. Like I said, if you aren't going to do a rolled hem, you can do a pinking shear edge or iron and sew a small seam.

10. Along the top edge, do a basting stitch about 1/4" in. If you pull the back thread on one end, your fabric will gather.

11. You will need to gather each strip down to between 16" & 18" depending on the row.

12. Lay them out, starting with outside circle and adjust ruffle width accordingly, leave a seam on the cut edge. When you have proper ruffle-ing, tie the thread on both sides so your ruffles stay put.

There are more steps, but I just put the majority here incase that blog disappears.