A Sewing Lesson Christmas Project

In late October, my sewing student W. asked if she could come back for some more lessons. Her grandmother had gotten a new rug, and she was inspired to make a Christmas tree skirt to match.

The border of the rug that started this project.

When they sent me the photo of the rug so I could plan, my reaction was, “How are we going to do that?”  Even if I were good at applique, I think pine cones would require lots of tiny pieces and fussing.  I guess you could embroider the pine needles, but we would never finish in time for Christmas.

I thought maybe we would have to design our own fabric, and get it printed up.  So I pulled out my books on textile design in case we needed them, but first we looked online to see what fabrics were available.

I thought that out of all of them, W. might choose a fabric something with the misty look that the rug has, or with very realistic pine cones, but to my surprise, she picked a small print in the traditional red and green colors.

I said, “Are you sure??”  She was, so I said, “Well, I might already have something like that,” and we looked at the Christmas fabrics in my stash to see if anything would work.

She immediately pulled fabrics that I would never have put together, but it was her project, not mine, so we got to work.  For the first lesson, we used this tutorial to cut the base fabric, and then fused strips around the edge.

I later asked her, “Do you really like this new idea?  Or did you just think it would be easier, instead of waiting to order fabric?”  She said she liked both ideas, and the embroidered skirt in the tutorial, and looking at the fabrics gave her even more.  🙂

I think we had about four sessions altogether.  In between lessons, I was working on my handkerchief quilt, and in my collection, I found some beautiful Christmas handkerchiefs.  They were the perfect touch to bring in the pine cone motif, so we cut those up and fused them down around the center.

W. did all the zigzag stitching on the raw edges of the border fabrics, and I did it on the cut edges of the vintage handkerchiefs.  I did the stacking of the top, batting, and backing, but she did all the stitching around the edge, and turning.

And there you have it!  I think I should have put the opening on the opposite side from the poinsettia, but I was more worried about two bits of the border that didn’t line up.  🙂

Tree skirt designed (and mostly sewn) by a 9-year-old!

It was a big hit at her house, and I know they will enjoy it for years.

And just to add to the festive spirit, I am going to include these two images of vintage decorations — one from a pattern book from 1950, and one from a handkerchief.

1950 crocheted doily. Note the festive cigarettes in the crystal glass, and the aluminum leaf dish. 🙂

Vintage Christmas handkerchief.

I hope you have decorations that make you happy!

Category : Quilting, Sewing
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