No-Sew Ruffle Tree Skirt

Christmas is my favorite time of year. I love decorating so much that I think I actually scared my husband yesterday with my enthusiasm.... Anyway, this year's Christmas theme at my place is Harry Potter-so think the Weasley's house meets Hogwarts at Christmas. I've seen this tree skirt around the blogs lately and I had to make it!


what you'll need: Fabric for skirt base and ruffles. (this takes a little math and will be different depending on the size of your tree.) My skirt base is 17" long so I used about a yard of muslin fabric for that, plus about 2 1/2 yards of muslin for the ruffles. You will also need fabric glue, scissors, and a measuring tape. 
*fabric note: this would also work well with felt!


cost: less than $10


difficulty level: easy


First, I took my 2 1/2 yards of unbleached muslin and ripped it into strips that are 5-6" wide and 2 1/2 yards long. I like the unfinished edges, but if you really want to get crazy you can finish your ruffle edges with ribbon or a roll hem, but do it before you attach them to the skirt base.


Next, I made a circle skirt for my base. Measure the from the tree trunk out passed the branches or as long as you want your skirt to go. Remember there will be a 5" ruffle added to the base. Mine skirt was 17".


Your fabric should already be folded in half when you buy it (Hot dog style) so then you need to fold it in half one more time (hamburger style). 

From the top corner-where all edges are folded- use your measuring tape to mark a quarter circle 1" from the corner. Then another quarter circle 17" (or desired length of skirt) from the corner. Cut along both curves and you will get this:

Then cut a slit like the picture below-this will be the back of the skirt.

Now for the fun part!

I laid down a piece of cardboard first because the fabric glue gets messy.

Line up one ruffle with the slit of the skirt base about 1/2" from the outside edge and start gluing. 

Pleat and glue the fabric around the whole outside edge. If you run out of one ruffle before you reach the end, just overlap another ruffle and continue.

Move a few inches up and glue the next row.

Continue until you reach the center-closest to the trunk. By now, your pleats will need to be small an closer together than the outside row.

Let it dry for a few hours and then wrap your new tree skirt around the tree and admire your handy work! 

P.S. I wanted to do something no-sew for people who don't have machines, but sewing would probably have been faster and longer lasting than the glue.