Burlap Christmas Tree Skirt

My very sweet 17 year old daughter saw a ruffled tree skirt at a friend's house and decided that she had to make me one for a Christmas gift this week. A little background on this first. My daughter was a reluctant participant in sewing in 4-H for 6 long years! She is not very detail oriented, so it was a struggle for both of us to get projects done right for the fair each year. She was more than happy to be finished with that project, and hasn't had an interest in sewing since.

Well, this project was quite the project. She found all the material herself, and even tried to find ruffles she could sew onto this skirt all over town. When she came up with a dead end on ruffles (she knew she couldn't make her own ruffles), she found bias tape instead! I personally think that she's a genius! I've seen these ruffled skirts and love them, but this actually makes my skirt special!

Mr. Right even got involved and tried to print the lettering out on the computer, but couldn't figure it out. On Tuesday night, while I was working at a home party, she sewed like crazy while the boys tried to figure the computer out. My daughter finally decided to have her boyfriend do the printing for her. He did a fabulous job of printing the "S" and established date on the tree skirt free hand! Beautiful work on both of their parts!

When she pulled out the sewing machine, they couldn't find the cord, so Mr. Right made a new one from some cords laying around! I'm pretty impressed that she thought to trace my other tree skirt to make it. I know I've contemplated how to make a perfect circle for a skirt!

So here's a glimpse of it under my tree. It's off the ground, because I tried something different this year, by putting my tree in an old washtub. I have to say, the burlap skirt is much more beautiful! What do you think? I can't begin to tell you how proud I am of my girl that even though she's not a fan of sewing, she was able to pull this off all by herself for a very special gift that I will truly treasure! It gives me hope that I may have made the right decision to teach my kids homemaking skills.

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