The (not so) Quick Tree Skirt

This was going to be a tutorial post for a quick little tree skirt. Two hours or so. Five hours later I was still not done.

If I hadn't decided to make my own bias binding...
Out of teenie scraps of fabric...

I could have showered, gotten dressed, driven to the store, bought some pre-made tape, had a leisurely lunch, and the project would still have been finished sooner than via the painful process I went through.

In short, what I did was:

Cut three circles - one out of focus fabric (from the 12 Days of Christmas collection), one out of batting, and one out of background fabric.
I folded the fabric in half and used a disappearing marker attached to a piece of string to draw a half circle.

Cut a little circle in the center.

Layered all three fabrics, pinned them together and stitched half an inch from the edge all around.  I also stitched two lines 1" apart from the center to the edge, so I could cut the opening without the layers shifting.

After that I made the aforementioned bias tape.  More than 100" of it!

Sewed on the tape.

Discovered that the hole in the top was too big and the skirt kept sliding down the tree trunk.  Inserted some elastic. Still too loose. Pulled the elastic tighter.  Yay!

Took probably an hour to figure out how to sew ties to the skirt. Don't ask...

Anyhow, I do like the way it turned out, so I suppose it was worth a lost Sunday.

(I made the little tree topper last year.  Instructions here.)