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Thursday, December 10, 2015

Little Drop Cloth Christmas Trees ~ A New How~To ..

Hello my dear friends,

whilst working on some little gifts for this Christmas, I thought it would be nice to show you how I made them. I am not claiming the actual design of this creation, I am just sharing how I made mine.

I had found a photograph of a fabric Christmas tree it on the Internet. It was made from festive and bright fabric but since I am a DCL (drop cloth lover) I decided to make mine from some grayish drop cloth that I had leftover from a different project. These so so easy to make and you can really use anything you have to decorate them with. I found everything I used in my studio and didn't by anything for this project.

And these are my little drop cloth Christmas trees.
My first one didn't turn out the way I hoped it would but that was OK. It gave me a reason to make a few more.


The tassel and glitter didn't give me the look I wanted it too, so I needed to try something else.


I do like this little tree much better now.

And this one too!


I love the little birds visiting it.

And here is the how to on little lovely little tree, the don't take long and are quite eaty to make, so why not make a few for your tree or as little gifts ~ you will have them done in no time.

You will need the following ...


~ some drop cloth a little bigger than 8 by 8 inches
~ strong sewing thread
~ needle
~ a few pins
~ scissors
~ quilter's marking pen
~  Fabri Tac glue
~ something about 8 inches in diameter
 (I used a old children's plate of my daughter Caylagh)
~ iron

And this is how I made my little drop cloth tree ...


Trace around your 'template' using your pen and cut the circle then out.


Fold the circle in half ...


... and then iron the fold.


Now thread you needle and using double thread sew a running stitch all the way around your piece approx. 1/4 inch from the edge. Secure the thread and cut off the excess.

Lay your half circle in front of you and ...



... mark the following two placed with a pin ...
... approx. 3.5 inches on the curved side and 5 inches on the straight side.

Now you can start to fold you tree.


 With the straight side to the left, fold the fabric over to the left so that there is a crease between the two pins.



Fold over two more times, once to one side and then to the other and secure with a pin. It might need a little adjusting here or there but it will work out in the end.



Remove the pin and give your tree a good iron.

One last thing before you can start embellishing you tree.


Using you fabric glue, glue down each section of the tree to the one underneath it so everything is connected to each other and stays in place. It makes the little tree a little sturdier. Apply the glue but not too much, to the inside of the stitching ( above photo), this was you won't have any glue showing.

Time for the real fun begins ... time to decorate!


There is no end to how you could decorate your little trees. Buttons, pearls or glass beads would look lovely and so would little crochet flowers and lace. Instead of ornament hooks you could use ribbon, string or lace to hang them with. These can also be used as gift tags if you wanted,  it is really entirely up to you.


I prefer to sew my lace to the tree but you can use glue if you wish. Make sure you when using glue that you don't use too much so that it won't become visible.


Tuck the end of the lace towards the back, between the layers of the tree. I also use a tiny dot of glue to secure it.


When you get to the end of a section just fold the lace over and continue on the next section. Finish off the lace by folding it over a little and tucking it under the previous piece of lace. Sew to the edge and secure they thread before cutting the excess off.


Now you can sew or glue your little embellishments to your tree.
 Again when using glue, don't use too much. 
You wouldn't want it to 'ooze' out and spoil your creation. 


And finally attach your hook by sewing it to the top of your tree with a few slip stitches. Secure the thread before cutting the excess off. You of course can use ribbon or string instead.

And now you are done!



I hope you have enjoyed my newest little how~to. 

Why not try and make these from paper/card?  You could write a little message hidden away in each section and it would give your gift that little something special.

Thank you for stopping by again here at Todolwen. I hope you have enjoyed your visit.

I hope you are well my dear friends and life is treating you kind.

Have a peaceful and creative day.

23 comments:

  1. So cute and so doable! Thank you for sharing this tutorial -- I will definitely try this!

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  2. This is such a nice project.Yes you could do them in paper too.Thanks for this tutorial.

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  3. Your trees are so gorgeous Karen and such a sweet act of kindness to share how you created them with all the different possibilities to embellish!
    Have a lovely weekend coming up!
    x Suzy

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  4. Loved your tree, so nice to see handmade decorations that can be used in so many ways. Thank you for sharing.

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  5. Liebe Karen

    1000 Dank fuer die wunderbare Anleitung!
    Vielleicht habe ich am Wochenende Zeit so einen Baum
    zu machen.
    Ich schicke Dir einen lieben Gruss aus Koeln am Rhein ;o)

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  6. Herzlichen Dankm das sieht so schön aus! Bisher kannte ich diese Art nur aus Papier.

    LG Sabine

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  7. Que bonito!!! gracias por el tutorial, besos

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  8. These are gorgeous Karen - your sewing is so neat! I recognise your little crochet flowers too, its a while since I made any of those. I'm going to try the tree from card using your guidance, great idea. Thanks so much. x

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  9. Thank you for sharing this wonderful tree idea....

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  10. GENIUS!!!!!

    I'd try it myself but needles and thread don't like me. At all.

    Merry Christmas!
    xo
    SuZeQ

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  11. Oh! Danke für die Anleitung!! Diese Bäumchen sind so zauberhaft.... Mal sehen, ob ich noch welche mache in diesem Jahr. Sonst gibt es nächstes Jahr wieder Weihnachten 😉
    Herzlichst
    yase

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  12. Oh how lovely your trees are Karen!

    Hugs Ines♥

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  13. Your trees are beautiful Karen! TFS the tutorial!

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  14. These are so sweet - especially with the little cardinals. I might have to search out a drop cloth to play with after seeing all the great things you've been making!

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  15. Such a darling little tree ornament and yees decorating is the BEST part
    Hugs Lynn

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  16. Such a darling little tree ornament and yees decorating is the BEST part
    Hugs Lynn

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  17. These are adorable!!! Thank you so much for the tutorial!!

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  18. Thank you for sharing...lovely decorations xx

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  19. Hi Karen~
    I am sooo happy I found this generous tutorial you posted! These trees are so sweet!
    I want to try one : ) Thank you for sharing! ~Karen O

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  20. Karen, that is sublime. Merry and Blessed Christmas sweet gal! xx

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  21. Is this a dumb question or could you sew the lace on ( by machine) to the bottom of the half circle before folding it? I’ll try. Yours are all lovely.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Judy, I honestly don't know because I have never done it that way and I almost always sew by hand. Maybe give it a try on a trail piece and see if it works. Oh and by the way, there are no dumb questions.:)
      Have a lovely day.
      Karen B.

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