Dec21

Fabric Forest

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Forest

I have the sweetest friends! One of them gave me a stack of Christmas remnants this fall. I used them for my mini-pillow ornaments and decided to make a “fabric forest” from some of the other bits.  I was inspired by the cute design I saw on the cover of my Fa la la la Felt book by Kathy Sheldon, but I wanted to use cotton fabric instead of felt and make all different sizes, so I came up with my own tutorial. It would also be pretty to use solid color fabrics and make them look like decorated Christmas trees with buttons, sequins, rick-rack, and other a-la-mode. I think I’ll leave my forest up through the winter, switching out their Santa companion for a snowman. Each tree takes about 15 minutes. Ready? Let’s go! ♥

 1

For the tree, find a corner of the fabric. Measure and mark the same length straight down, straight across, and at several points in the curve between, then cut along your marks. For the base, divide the length you used by .25. This measurement will be the radius of the circle. Mark a dot on the fabric. Measure and mark the radius all the way around, then cut along your marks. Example: This tree measurement is 9 inches, so the base radius measurement is 2.25 inches.
 2

Fold the tree piece right sides together and pin along the straight edge  . . .
 3

and then sew the edge with a ¼ or 3/8 inch seam.
 4

Turn the tree right side out.
 5

Open the seam at the bottom and pin on the base, right sides together. Only use one pin . . . your fingers will do the rest!
 6

Sew the tree and base together from the tree side using a 3/8 inch seam. Feed the fabric through a bit at a time, using your fingers to make tiny gathers in the tree to help it fit the curve of the base. It sounds hard, but it’s really not!
 7

Keep going . . .
 8

until you’re a couple of inches away from where you started.
 9

Turn the base right side out.
 10

Put stuffing through the opening. If needed, use a chopstick to poke the stuffing to the top. NOTE: Don’t overstuff, as that will give the tree a rounded base and it won’t stand up straight.
 11

Pin the opening and hand-stitch it shut.
 Merry Christmas

You’re done with that one! To make a little forest, simply repeat with different fabrics and sizes. Enjoy!

74 responses »

  1. Great tutorial. Your trees came out so nice, on first glance I thought you used fabric to cover a form. As I was reading the tutorial I’m trying to figure out how you are going to cover a form if you have a bottom sewed on. 🙂 I think my brain needs more rest. Lovely!

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  4. When I saw these I too thought you covered a styrofoam cone or another tree form. (An idea for people who don’t sew.). This is a clever idea. I also love how you change your decor to a snowman after Christmas….it keeps your home festive after Santa has returned to the North Pole.
    Enjoy your Holidays, as I know you will!
    —Vickie

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  6. Those are so sweet and wonderfully different!! Thank you so much for the ‘tute’. I am pretty much finished with Christmas sewing and have time to do some other ‘fun’ stuff……….Christmas Blessings….Doreen

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  10. Thanks for the cute tutorial! An option for weighting the trees down could be to stuff the trees with polyfil until you get to the base. Fill the base with walnut shells, plastic pellets, or anything with some weight to it.

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  15. What a lovely idea. Another great way to use up small pieces of excess Christmas fabric. I like the way you describe the circular seam sewing. Other people’s instructions never admit this is difficult or give you hints to help. This is great! I just love your blog!

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  21. I love these trees. They are so Christmassy. I have a “thing” for small Christmas trees. I can see one of yours with tiny presents under it.

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    • What a fun idea! And we like little ones, too . . . for packages this year we put up the small tabletop tree I used in my first-grade classroom, and it looks so sweet! (Plus, we didn’t have to rearrange the furniture!) 🙂

      Reply ↓

  22. I normally don’t go in for this sort of thing, but I really love the simple, graphic shape of these trees– and they look fantastic grouped together in different sizes and fabrics!! And I have lots of fabric scraps (mostly from aprons) that would be perfect!

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    • Thank you SO much, Hannah! That’s very sweet. I’ll go check it out right now! 🙂 Hugs, Katherine P.S. The post I wrote about your blog and giveaway is still on my top twenty posts of all time! 🙂

      Reply ↓

      • You are very welcome 😀 I know I have nominated you for a few things now, but I really do like your blog, and thought this one kinda summarised that!
        That’s great to know about your top twenty post list – I’m made up, thank you for the shout out 😀 xxx

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  30. Pingback: Gentle Changes: Christmas to Winter « PILLOWS A-LA-MODE

  31. Pingback: The Fabric Forest | PILLOWS A-LA-MODE

  32. How fun! I have corners of many fabrics after cutting diagonal strips to cover cording for pillows. What a great way to use them! Thanks for a wonderful tutorial. 🙂

    Reply ↓

  33. Pingback: Merry Christmas! | PILLOWS A-LA-MODE

  34. What a fun idea. You are really tempting me to get my sewing machine out from its hiding place. I may have to wait until after my husband goes back out on the road and I have the kitchen table all to myself 😀
    Leslie

    Reply ↓

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