Normally, we would buy a traditional Christmas tree that would occupy a large part of our living room but this year’s Christmas tree looks a bit different compared to previous years. The reason is of course lack of space. Where we’d normally put the tree, there is now a changing table and a baby stroller. The obvious solution was to find a really slim tree that we could squeeze in beside the changing table! And that is why we bought a modern and scrawny looking Atlas cedar as this year’s Christmas tree.

The Atlas cedar is actually a potted plant that can be replanted outdoors later on. In order to protect the floor in our apartment, we got a large plastic bucket that we could put the pot in. However, that bucket looked quite far from “Christmas-y” and after reading a catalogue from the fabric store “Stoff & Stil”, I was inspired to make a sack for the ugly bucket and some nice fabric hearts as Christmas decorations. The materials needed for this project was red and beige striped burlap, string to tie the sack together, thread, padding for the hearts and a bit of gold/beige yarn as hangers for the hearts.

To save some fabric, I decided to make the sack with a circular base and a large rectangle to go around it. I first measured the diameter of the bucket and added a bit of extra to make the sack a bit more fluffy. After that, I took a piece of pattern paper, folded it twice and with a pen and a ruler marked the radius +1cm for seam allowance. Based on the radius, I calculated the circumference of the circle and then cut out a rectangular piece (with seam allowance included).When sewing, always try to sew the “flat things” first which is why I started with the top hem of the sack. After that, sew the rectangle into a tube and attach the tube to the circle. This was one of the easier things I’ve made in a long time :)

The pattern for the hearts can be found here.