Ashley’s Holiday NDAD Creation

Today’s creation comes from Ashley, who happens to be a super awesome pal of mine!  This is her first foray into vintage repurposing, however you’ll be seeing more of her here in the new year.  Let’s just say that her mom has a stash of vintage pieces and heirlooms just asking to be made over, and Miss Ash will be working her lovely hands on those pieces in 2013.  Let’s hear the background on today’s piece…

I have a vintage quilt that was hand sewn by three of my great-aunts and I wanted to turn it into an heirloom tree skirt for my family.  A number of the patches on the quilt were pretty tattered, and it was not backed or finished along the hem – I actually had it thrown over the back of our couch for awhile to try to showcase its awesomeness, but it didn’t prove very baby/toddler proof.

“My wacky youngest daughter poised in front of it with a fellow baby-in crime!”

A girlfriend of mine offered to host a Sunday sewing party at her house, so I jumped at the opportunity!  It seemed like the perfect time to finally make a proper tree skirt for our Christmas tree, instead of a red fleece blanket that had been used in past years.

Ash’s Handmade Quilt – Before

I started cutting the quilt into a proper square by removing one strip of quilted squares and then cut a matching piece of black cotton fabric to serve as the backing for the quilt…

I layered both pieces, pinning them together and folded the fabric in half diagonally, and then in half diagonally again, and again, and again, and then drew a line in white chalk to round the edges into a circle.  Check out the steps below!

I pinned everything into place so that it wouldn’t shift while cutting.  (Genius idea!!)  It was mighty thick, so it took some time (and a serious arm work out) to cut the circle.

Once the fabric was cut, I laid the black fabric and the quilt inside out on top of one another and pinned them together. I then trimmed a straight line down from the center to the edge of the circle.

Tree Skirt!!

I got some help firing up my sewing machine and then sewed the two pieces together, inside out.  I also pinned three pairs of ribbon (each approximately one foot in length) along the cut radius of the circle, running from the center to the edge of the pattern so that I could tie the skirt together once it was wrapped around the tree.

Sewing Machine Time!

I sewed the edges of the circle and left just a big enough opening to then turn the tree skirt right side out.  My friend’s mom taught me how to hand stitch an invisible seam to finish sewing the project together. 

Close those edges!

And, WHEW!  Big exhale!  It worked!  

Round and Round

And now the quilt will have a special and important showcase yearly in our household. 

New Holiday Tree Skirt!

I am very pleased with the result – and perhaps most importantly, my mom gave her stamp of approval!

Hello new home for the quilt!!

I’m feeling confident enough to tackle another project soon.  A bright blue sequined dress from the 80s has “New Year’s Eve 2012″ written all over it!

I’m so excited for the next project, Ash!!  Blue + sequins = New Year’s perfection!!  Until Ashley’s next piece here, check her out over at blogalacart!