Sewing Sunday - Oh Christmas Tree!

This one is technically a YouTube video, but it was on Pinterest. Social media at its finest hour, really.

As you know, I am into the Christmas spirit. So far, I have all of my decorations out (except for a Christmas tree) and as I looked around, I knew that I needed more. To Pinterest I went! I found tons of stuff that I can't wait to try, but this one really stood out to me (mainly because I cleaned my craft room and needed to find stuff to do with the crap I didn't want to part with.)

After 3-4 more hours of Pinteresting (as you do), I got my items together and hunkered down for an hour project. Silly me - I should have known better.

This fabric was one that I bought from 3 huge bins full of fabric on Craigslist for $20. That was about 3 years ago, and the bins still sit in my craft room today pretty much untouched. When I cleaned today, I went through and found lots of flannel and plaid fabric - my favorite! When I completed kicking myself in the butt for not finding these jewels 3 years ago, I used the chalk roller to draw out a triangle - I did mine about 10" on each side.

Since I needed these to match up pretty well, I cut two at a time and pinned the centers so they didn't shift when I cut them. Then, I used them as a pattern for the next two and so on. All together, you need six triangles, paired up for three triangles, a la below.

You'll notice the two pins at the bottom of each triangle. I put these here so I remembered to leave a hole at the bottom instead of getting sew-happy all around.

Here's what you should do that I didn't: sew them with right sides together. Luckily, even though my tree is completely inside out, it doesn't look so bad because my fabric looked pretty much the same between back and front. I can't promise you'll be that lucky (although kudos, if you are.) Also, make sure to backstitch so you don't rip everything out when you turn your triangle inside out. (Did you hear that? That was experience, folks.

Once all sewn up, trim the two side seam allowances and trim the corners so they turn inside out flat, then turn your triangles inside out and push out all the corners with a pencil. Or a pen - I'm not picky. Once you have them all inside out, lay them on top of each other and sew a straight line from the bottom (cutting your hole into two holes) all the way to the top of the tree.

Here's the part that I thought would take 10 minutes, tops. This thought is a lie.

Stuff that tree for the next hour. You're welcome.

When stuffing, I started by stuffing the top point of all six triangles, and then filled the rest one at a time. Make sure you really stuff the fill into the tip. I'd say use your pen(cil) for this as well, but it turns out that there is a magical pusher inside the bag. Mind = blown. (Proof that I have not used this stuff near as much as one would expect when one owns 4 bags of Poly-fill) #poorchoices

Once all stuffed up, sew up the holes by hand and voila! You have yourself a tree. The lady in the video puts hers in a tiny terra cotta pot. Although this doesn't look near as cool, I see the appeal to put it into something because it's not what people call "sturdy" or "straight" on its own. But hey, when do you ever get a Christmas tree perfectly straight? We've all had the "it's leaning to the left! Now its leaning to the right! Just leave it alone - it's good enough!" conversation.

All in all, it's a cozy-looking, homemade Christmas tree that livens up a space in my house that didn't have nearly as much Christmas decor as I wanted. It's a pin win, I'd say.

Here's the breakdown (keep in mind, I didn't actually have to buy anything, but I'm going with the assumption that you don't have anything)

Flannel fabric: $7.64/yard at Joann Fabrics (on sale now)

General purpose thread: $2.79

Needles: $3.50

Poly Fill: $3.99

Total: $17.92

Let's be honest though, if you are a crafter and looking at sewing projects, chances are you will have scrap fabric, needles and a sewing machine that makes this one anywhere from free to a couple bucks for the fill.

Until next time!