we three trees

About four or five years back, my MIL was making these trees as gifts for her kids for Christmas.

I was living with her at the time. No joke; she is a great lady and living with her proved it more to me.

Any way, these are made out of dowels to desired length, and torn home spun fabric in Christmas colors, a rusty tin star, raffia, and a piece of branch that has been cut on a band saw and drilled in the middle to accommodate dowel. I can't find the original instructions or I would post them. The strips of fabric are just tied around the dowel and they get shorter and shorter as they approach the star. I think they came out real cute and would be cute in other colors and fabric too. The neat thing about homespun is that it has no right or wrong side to the fabric, so it does work a little better for this project.

It is trendy right now to have a stripey blanket. I know it is on about five other blogs, just can't remember where. Well you can see ours on the sofa in the back by the big Christmas tree. I made that one about three years ago for my husband's birthday present.

Hi! I saw that Sunshine needed this pattern, so here it is:

The Three Trees

Each tree requires 1/2 yard of fabric. For three trees, you should have three different plaids that go well together. The fabric should be printed on both sides; homespun works best. The trees look best if the fabric is torn, not cut, into strips.

Dowels are approximately 7/16 inches in diameter and measure approximately 19 1/2 inches, 16 1/2 inches, and 13 1/2 inches in length. All three should be able to be cut from a single 40-inch dowel.

1. Tear the fabric into strips according to the directions below.
2. Start with the longest strip for a tree and tie it to the bottom of the dowel with one single knot. Continue until all the strips have been tied to the the tree -- the longest strips at the bottom, the medium strips in the middle, and the shortest strips at the top.
3. Push all the knots on the tree closely together.
4. Put a little wood glue into each tree base, and then insert the dowel.
5. Tie a few strands of raffia at the top of the tree.
6. Finish by gluing the metal star (available at craft stores or WalMart) in place.

Medium and Small Trees

Tear thirteen (13) strips, lengthwise, from your fabric. Each strip should be approximately 1 1/4 inches wide. Lay six (6) of the strips side-by-side and cut in three (3) 12-inch lengths. (Note that there is a short area of wastage with this set of strips. If you are doing multiple sets of trees, this wastage can be combined to form usable lengths of ties.) Lay five (5) strips side-by-side and cut in one (1) 12-inch length and three (3) 10-inch lengths. Lay the final two (2) strips side-by-side and cut in one (1) 10-inch length, and four (4) 8-inch lengths.

You should end up with

• 23 12" strips
• 17 10" strips
• 8 8" strips
• 45 total strips
  

Note that the lengths do not have to be exact, but it helps to be relatively correct.

Large Tree

Tear thirteen (13) strips lengthwise from your fabric. Each strip should be approximately 1 1/4 inches wide. Lay seven (7) strips side-by-side and cut in three (3) 14-inch lengths. Lay six (6) strips side by side and cut in two (2) 12-inch lengths and two (2) 9-inch lengths.

You should end up with

• 21 14" strips
• 12 12" strips
• 12 9" strips
• 45 total strips
  

Again, these lengths do not have to be exact, but it helps.

If you are doing multiple set of the trees, you may end up with more fabric, or extra strips; GREAT! (Or, you may want to use a bit more fabric and just cut some extra strips.) The more strips you can get from your fabric, the more full your trees will be. However, be aware that narrower strips than 1 1/4 inches are too small and don't look very nice on the finished project.

I received this pattern from a leader when I made a set of three trees at a Church women's homemaking activity. The set of the trees, accompanied by the book "The Legend of the Three Trees," retold by Angela Elwell Hunt, were given as a gift to each of my children for the Christmas of 2002.

A wonderful Christmas and a joyous New Year to you and yours.

Pattern Posted by Myrna

( Up date: if you don't know who Myrna is, it is my Mom-in-law aka MIL; but I just call her Mom. I am not a great speller or grammar-type person, but she is. So she was kind and agreed to check over my stuff from time to time and fix mistakes. Here, she was kind enough to give you the pattern I couldn't find. Thanks MOM)

Please click on the first photo to see how cute these really are.