Thursday Sewing: Making a tree skirt from curtain valances

I had something completely different planned for today's post! And as you can maybe tell I'm a bit late in posting today. What I had planned will have to wait until next Thursday's Sewing Session though. So sorry.

Today I bring you: Making a Tree Skirt from Curtain Valances

This would be a lot more relevant if we were closer to Christmas, but I also never got a chance to post it over Christmas. I was sick most of the time and we had family in from Brazil. So here it is today, and maybe it will give you a head start on your Christmas sewing?

To begin with, I had some old valances laying around that I had picked up at a thrift store, intending to make a silky bag with them. The bags never came to fruition. I needed a tree skirt. The one we had was too small and I wanted something a bit more elegant. And handmade. So I "found" the valances on my fabric shelf and started taking measurements.

With two of them, I had enough material to make the skirt. To make the skirt, I needed to sew them together, make a circular cut out in the middle, and then make eyelets or something similar for the ties on one side.

The first thing I did was to sew them together in the middle, so that the borders were on the outside edges. Then I folded them into halves and quarters so I could easily make a pie-shaped wedge to cut out the circular middle. I really just measured the top of my tree stand, subtracted about 1/2" for seam, and measured from the point to the distance on the ruler. I then cut it and seamed it by folding 1/4" under and running a zig zag stitch all the way around.

During all of this, I'd forgotten that I needed an opening to actually put it around the tree stand. So I cut down the middle of one side, seamed up the sides, and stood back to take a look at it. It needed more. It was just really plain. Here was where my two hour project became four.

I remembered that I had made a filet crocheted set of bells meant to be used as a centerpiece about 11 years ago. They had taken me forever, but were now laying unused in a drawer. I decided they would be perfect for my tree skirt. Sure enough, I got the centerpiece out and laid it across my skirt. Perfect! Now how to sew that sucker on there?

Looking around the craft room, my eyes landed on the can of basting spray I use for quilts. With an Aha! moment and recall of Ashley's post about attaching her crocheted appliques, I set about spraying small sections and applying the piece to the skirt. This probably would've held for a while, but I didn't want to risk it. I pinned the bells around, making sure to keep the slippery material as smooth as possible underneath the bells and the bells flat as well. With a zig zag stitch set for a long length and a short stitch, I carefully sewed the bells to the tree skirt.

For the final touch, I used an eyelet setting on my Janome. I made small holes down the sides of the open edges and then let the Janome do its thing. With little effort on my part, the eyelets were made and nearly perfect. I then laced it all up using some ribbon I had.

So it got a little involved, but I was really happy with the fact that I upcycled the valances and found a new purpose for my unused centerpiece. I also had a brand spanking new tree skirt that didn't cost me a dime to make this year. (I'm not considering the initial cost of the valances which was about $3 and the thread used to crochet the bells, or the ribbon that I had on hand. It was all stuff I had on hand and didn't have to go out to buy.)

With a little thought, looking through your stash, or a fun run through a thrift store, I bet you can find some stuff to make you own Christmas tree skirt for next year. If you make something, would you consider posting it to my group Flickr account? I'd love to see your projects!

*The pattern used for the bells centerpiece was from the November, 2003 issue of Crochet! Magazine and is by Ferosa Harold. You can reference the pattern on Ravelry.

Want More Information on the Janome MC8900?

My review of the Janome MC8900 has been very popular with my readers. I also saw that a lot of search terms directing people to the post basically added up to, "How do I use the Janome MC8900?" I'm still learning a little more each day, but I also thought that maybe you would all enjoy a series of tutorials on how to use the 8900. And if you do, what would you like to know?

I will post using videos (Yikes! New for me!) and try to answer your questions. You may also discover things you didn't know your Janome could do! I know that often when dealers sell their machines they offer free lessons over the life of the machine. But if you're in any situation like mine, you can't just pack up and go down for lessons.

Problem 1: My dealer is 1.5 hours away in heavy traffic in a city I don't like.

Problem 2: That machine is freakin' heavy!

Problem 3:  I don't have time to run around taking lessons, which is why I use Craftsy.

Problem 4: It's a $4k+ machine. You don't just load it in the back of the van and hope that all the idiots on the road stay away from you and that you don't have to get out and use the restroom or eat or anything, cause there's no way I'm leaving it in the car by itself!!!! Yup, I have serious attachment issues.

So if you're interested in some online lessons/tutorials, please post here and let me know! Thanks.

What are all those pre-loaded stitches for?

In my recent review of the Janome MC8900 I mentioned that it came pre-loaded with over 250 decorative and utility stitches. So what in the world are they good for? Many things, actually. If you're a beginning sewist you'll probably decide you don't really need them and you're good with just a basic machine that has basic utility stitches (ie., straight lines, satin stitches, zigzags, etc.) and you'll be right. However, if you do invest in a machine like the 8900, you'll see that it has all of these fancy stitches and start thinking about putting them on dresses for little girls, shirts for boys, edgings on jeans and shorts, along curtain bottoms and insets in panels, table runners, pillowcases and on and on and on.

If you're a quilter, your mind will probably start to wander toward art quilts. Craftsy has a great class on how to use these stitches for your quilts to create fabulous works of art that are original and beautiful! The class is called Stupendous Stitching and I have recently enrolled in it, as art quilts are on my bucket list. And for the remainder of the day, this class is on sale for $19.99 - $10 off the original price.

I don't get in to hand embroidery much, but I do a lot of machine embroidery using my Brother SE400. The designs for them are fantastic and numerous, but I'm really limited on what I can do with a hoop and a pre-made design. I don't have design software, so I use what I find on the internet - mostly at Embroidery Library or Urban Threads. So the ability to combine stitches and make visual interest in quilts and other items is an attractive option. Janome also has a circular sewing attachment that lets you make these stitches in circular patterns. They even have a video about it. With only a 4" x 4" space available in my hooped embroidery machine, 10" seems like a big deal! Oh, imagine the possibilities: Framing a picture transferred to fabric, designing intricate circular motifs, creating quilted patterns, and probably more than I can think of!

The projects that have shown up through this Craftsy course are fantastic. I wish I had permission to show them, but you'll just have to follow the link to see. These folks let their imaginations run wild and created visually interesting and useful items. So take a look, enroll in a course, try out those stitches, and discover what you can do today!!!!