Treeskirts are Taking Over My Brain!

I have been creating treeskirts for friends and family for 25+ years. I started out making 5' rounds for friends that couldn't find skirts big enough for their large trees. The tiny store-bought skirts just weren't big enough to clear the lower limbs and still be visible. So, I tried it and was successful! Needless to say, everyone in my circle received treeskirts that first year for Christmas. Then, about 15 years ago, I ventured out again and designed a 14 point star skirt that's in the pic shown above. This is one of my proudest creations and has accentuated our Christmas tree every year. The pintucked taffeta in deep red with the serene green just screams Christmas to me so I haven't been able to bring myself to replace it.

This year, I've created an 8 point star that is meant to replace the traditional one, but I'm really not sure that's actually going to happen. The new one is made up of a fluffy white fabric meant to mimic snow and reflect some light from the tree.

This past year, when I couldn't find the 14 point pattern, I created a new 8 point pattern. I really like the design and the star theme really connects with Christmas and the long starry nights of winter. I've found a real passion in the design and sewing of the skirts. It scratches the creative itch as well as satisfies my desire for instant gratification.

I find myself spending hours online or in the fabric stores scrolling through fabrics! Or, I'll see a design theme and instantly come up with a skirt design that would fit in that theme so well! Like, lately, I can't get the Cottage Core theme out of my head and already have some fabrics in mind to fulfill that one. There are such beautiful fabrics out there, it's hard to stop designing! I'm also hoping folks will comment with ideas for new skirts. I love trying new designs, fabrics, etc. so if anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them. I have discovered however, that velvet is quite a challenging fabric and requires much patience. I will either need to keep using it to become more familiar with its eccentric nature, or give it up altogether. I'm leaning toward the latter and let others who are more adept wrestle that one.

I've listed five of the new creations on Etsy for the first time so I'm excited to see how that turns out. The photography aspect of selling is unnerving! The poses I put myself in to get the lighting just right is quite comical and shall never be viewed by anyone but my dog! When I look at other sellers and their photos, I'm so tempted to buy just from their photography skills! I'm hoping with practice, my skills will improve and I'll get more sales. I'm a bit hesitant to keep creating more skirts since nothing has sold yet, but then again, it's only July and maybe things will take off closer to the holidays. I need to figure out timing.

In the meantime, check me out on Etsy and let me know what you think. I like to think I'm open to comments so we should start testing that theory. ;)