Some scraps are just to pretty to toss, some might argue, “what can you do with such a small scrap?” Well today, I am going to show you how to make a scrappy Christmas tree.
You can make it into a sachet, a pillow to hang on a door knob or an ornament. So gather your scraps, here we go!
As I sew, I like to tuck my tiniest scraps, greater than an inch, into labeled baggies so I know what line it is. The larger scraps are cut into certain sizes, but that’s for another day.
Here I have my designer scraps and some left over neutral strips.
Arrange your scraps smallest to largest like a wedding cake. 🙂
Center the smaller piece with the larger piece, eyeball it.
Sew the pieces together using 1/4 inch seam.
Cut your “cakes” into triangles, no special rulers needed! Center your cake on the cutting mat so there is a line down the center of the block.
Cut from the center line diagonally to the corner of the last piece.
Align your trees along a neutral strip, leaving at least 1 inch above and below ends of the triangle.
Press, repeat on the other side.
To trim your blocks, cut down the widest point where top and bottom strips align. A minimum of 1/4 inch is ideal but not necessary.
See below how this “fat” tree has no extra 1/4 inch. (It will be okay!)
Once sides are trimmed, trim the bottom of the tree.
Aren’t they festive?
Make trunk units. Trunk unit is a 1 1/2 inch square. Add neutral scrap to either side guess-timating the size of your block.
I did it slightly bigger and trimmed.
After trimming, add stabilizer, either Shape Flex, interfacing or whatever else may be at hand. Sometimes it’s just a neutral piece of fabric (I like an extra layer between when I am using the Balsam Fir)
Follow instructions suggested by package instructions for whatever stabilizer you are using. Trim as desired. When trimming I leave about 1/2 inch from the top of the tree so when it’s stuffed, the shape is not lost.
Cut a pretty backing piece and a neutral piece (or more stabilizer) about 1/4 inch larger than the front. In case you are worried about the tree on the right being imperfect, don’t. 🙂
If you want to add any embellishments, do it before stitching the layers together. I added beads in the same color as the fabric for a little subtle bling-y effect.
To assemble your tree, pin a ribbon in the center of the tree for hanging later.
With right sides together, pin everything in place, aligning the bottom.
Leaving a 2 inch opening, start sewing (back stitch to secure) with 1/4 inch seam (from front fabric not backing) all the way to the other side, DON”T STOP AT CORNER AND TURN YOUR SQUARE. I used the method for making corners suggested by Sew Mama Sew in this video. Sew all the way to the the end of fabric.
Remove from machine and trim off the excess. Fold the sewn seam at stitching and start your next stitch there, back stitching a little to secure.
When all sides are done and you back stitched at the opening, turn and press. Push out corners with something with a point. I used a wooden skewer.
You can fill with Balsam Fir, available here (or other scenty substance) or poly-fil.
When using the Balsam Fir, I finish off the last bit of filling with some poly-fil for a clean finish.
Hand stitch the bottom closed.
If you rather not stuff, use batting instead of stabilizer between front and back. Quilt the top decoratively if you are turning it out or quilt as a sandwich if you will or finish it off with binding like a quilt.