Fabric tree tutorial

1.

Here is a photo tutorial to make your very own fabric tree.....

2.

Saw a piece of branch and drill a hole in the middle. Glue in a 35cm/14inch dowel. 

3.

You will need 5 fabrics for the tree. You can create a template from newspaper to get the shape right for each fabric. The sample is done using 5 fat quarters which were stacked and cut at once to give me extra fabric for 5 trees in total. 

4.

First discard a triangle at the bottom of the stack if you are using all 5 at once. This should measure 15 to 17 inches on the wide side of the triangle.

5.

Now cut the remainder of the fabrics in 5 strips of varying widths. This is done is any way you prefer but I recommend you do vary the strips to add interest. If you make a paper template. Cut the newspaper to 50cm x 55cm/20 inches x 22 inches. Cut off the bottom as shown in the previous step and then cut strips of paper in various widths. Use these strips for each of the fabrics you wish to use in your tree. 

6.

Sew the strips in order and lay with right sides together. The strips are not even at this point. Cut along the long side (these are the long diagonals of the fabric to the right and left in photo 5) to make an even seam and sew this seam. This will be the back seam of your tree. Notice the shorter diagonal line (left side of fabrics on photo 6) is not used yet as this will become the bottom seam in the next step. 

7.

Once the back seam is sewn you will center the seam at the back of the piece and lay this flat with right sides together. The two shorter diagonal sides now form a straight line. Trim this seam (photo 7) to create a nice straight seam.

8.

For this bottom seam, you will want to use a 1/2 inch seam allowance instead of the typical 1/4 inch to give you extra fabric to hand sew the opening later. Leave an opening about a hand's width in the middle of the bottom seam for stuffing. This means you will need to sew a separate seam both to the left and right side of the bottom.

9.

The front of the tree has straight seams (photo 9). 

10.

The back of the tree has a diagonal seam running through the middle (photo 10).

Stuff the tree. This does not need to be hard. I use Ikea SLÅN pillow which I cut open. The filling of this pillow is perfect for crafts and much more economical for me here in Holland. Use what you prefer. I ended up using half the filling for my tree which is 225 grams of filling.

Heidi