The upcoming holidays are a great time to flex your creative muscles. Here is a craft idea that you can make as sophisticated or as straight-forward as you like, and you can even have children lend a hand if you need to keep them occupied for a few hours.

A festive tree skirt is a circle of fabric with a slit and a hole in the centre for the tree trunk. It can be draped around the base of the tree to cover an unsightly drum or planter, or the “legs” of a plastic tree.

You can use any fabric to make the skirt – felt provides a solid base and is easy to work with. You can easily use templates to cut out felt figures and sew them onto the skirt to make a festive scene. Shiny satin and soft velvet offer a more luxurious look and feel to the skirt – try using these fabrics to create effects on a cotton or linen base.

If you’re artistic, you can draw your own scene and either paint it using fabric paint, or sew chunky figures onto the skirt using blanket stitch. Let your imagination loose – go for Santa and reindeer, snowmen and penguins, or a nativity scene. If your drawing skills are not up to the challenge, search for festive season templates and outlines on clip art sites online.

To make the skirt:

Measure from the trunk of your tree to the outer edge of where you want the skirt to reach – this is the radius of the skirt. Chalk or pen the circle onto your base fabric by pinning one end of a piece of string the length of the radius in the centre of the fabric. Attach the pen to the other end of the string and draw the circle.

If you want an outer edge to the skirt in a contrasting fabric, repeat this process on another piece of fabric with a longer piece of string. Leave enough fabric to fold a seam under before sewing to the base circle.

Cut along the radius of the base circle and cut a smaller circle out of the centre. You may want to sew or glue the edges of the opening to prevent fraying, if you’re using fabric other than felt. Add ribbons to tie up the opening if required.

Paint or sew your chosen scene or figures onto the front of the skirt.

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