Sunday, October 17, 2010

{Tutu} Cute Tutorial

Ok....so I just love tutu's! If you came to my house right now you would find about a million of them...all varying colors....all different sizes...and all for my little princess! They are just so girly and fun and seriously once you see how simple they are to make I'm pretty sure your house will be filled with them as well!

Supplies you will need:

  • Tulle of your color choice, 6 inch x 25 yard. Infant size you will need 1roll, toddler size you will need 2 rolls. Tip: Although you can find tulle in store I believe you find a better selection of colors online. You can find tulle here for $2.09 per roll. 
  • 1-inch flat elastic. You can find it here for $0.45 per yard!
  • needle/thread 
  • scissors

To start measure elastic around child's waist. Cut and sew ends together. You can either hand stitch or use a sewing machine.  Tip: I prefer to make the elastic fit snug. It will stretch a little as you are putting the tulle on and you want your tutu to stay up!


Next, determine the length that you would like your tutu to be. Make sure to double the length and add 1 inch (ie if you want the length of your tutu to be 12 inches your strips of tulle will need to be 25 inches) Tip: it is best to find a flat surface to cut your tulle on. The pieces do not need to be perfect...that is part of the fun of a tutu but you can use a ruler. I choose to cut all of my pieces first before adding them to the elastic.

Now fold your first piece of tulle in half. With the loop on top place on the inside of your elastic as shown below.



Now pull the end pieces through the loop and tighten. Tip: make sure to keep the "knot" at the bottom of the elastic. It should look like this...


Continue all the way around the elastic. Tip: do not pull tight. First, cover your entire elastic with the tulle.


Once all of the elastic is covered it is now time to pull the tulle tight (pull at the ends). This will cause the elastic to fold/stretch and will keep your tulle in place.


Last, find a beautiful little model to show off her new tutu! 



This tutu is for my daughter's Halloween costume. She is going to be Tinkerbell. You can find how to make fairy wings here .

You can add some embellishments too! We are going to add a nice satin ribbon bow to this tutu. Just take the ribbon, bring it around the elastic and tie a bow. You could also add hanging ribbon throughout the tutu. Or you could tie all the ends of the tulle into knots for a different look. You can also use multiple colors for your tutu. When I do this I create 3 loops of each color in a row on the elastic. Here is an example of the tutu Averee wore for her 1st birthday where I used four colors for the tutu...

You can make these wonderful tutu's for photos, birthday parties, costumes or even as a gift! What little girl wouldn't love to twirl around in one of these? And for under $5 you can afford to make them for every and any occasion!

Last but not least remember to have fun! The great thing about creating a tutu is that it doesn't need to be perfect. That is part of what gives a tutu it's whimsical look. And you have full control...make it however long or short, full or airy, embellishments or not....it is completely up to you!

Happy Twirling!

I've shared at the following sites....check it out!
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    Beyond The Picket Fence

    18 comments:

    1. This absolutely adorable!

      Sorry I have to delete it, it doesn't follow the scrapbook paper rule! I hope you'll link up something else :)

      Hannah @ http://youngancrafty.blogspot.com/

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    2. Thank you! And sorry...I did read that rule....I didn't even realize that I linked up to your party! (Pretty ridiculous I know....I guess that is what happens with little sleep!). I love your blog so I will definitely be following and linking up other projects!

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    3. So cute. I love how these are being paired with a cute tee shirt now. If my daughter was only three again.

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    4. Love this, Michelle! Great tuturial!

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    5. I loveee this. Im making one for me for Halloween (Im being tinkerbell and my hubby is going to be peterpan!) I had a question about using the 3 colors, do I do the 3 colors at a time.. as if you were only doing 1. Does that make sense?

      Thanks!!

      - Michelle @ Bunch of Craft

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    6. Thank you ladies! I'm so happy that you have enjoyed reading!

      Michelle....That will be so perfect for Halloween! When I have used multiple colors I still do one piece of tulle at a time around the elastic. But I will do three of each color in a row....so for instance say you are using pink, green and blue I would do three pink single loops in a row, then three greens and then 3 blues. I have seen sites where you can do multiple loops at a time instead of just one...I have not tried it myself but I believe it would probably take a whole lot more tulle because you still need to cover the entire elastic. I hope this helps! Let me know when you have your finished project...I think it could be really fun to show everyone that it's not just for little girls! We grown up girls still need to have some tutu fun!

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    7. Hi There! I just wanted to introduce myself...I'm Lisa. I am friends with your friend Cathie here in NE! She was telling me all about your blog this weekend so I wanted to come check it out and follow you:) Can't wait to read more!!!

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    8. This is a definite MUST for my granddaughters for their dress-up closet. The best part? With my arthritic and stroke affect hands - I can still make this! How exciting and how beautiful. I always wanted to hand make stuff for my grandchildren and when I had my stroke I thought I was finished. I am so glad I came by. I've bookmarked your page and I'll follow in case you offer easy-on-the-hands ideas later.

      I'm visiting from the Santa's Gift Shoppe Monday Blog Hop! Get a free copy of my Christmas ebook (Jesus Does Not Care and Other Christmas Stories) when you stop by. I'm #75 Donating to Charity This Season?

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    9. So glad I happen to stumble onto your tutorial, tutu's are so cute. You make it look really easy, my only question is how wide do I cut the strips? Thanks for the inspiration!

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    10. Lisa...nice to meet you! I must say that I am very jealous you all have Ms Cathie out there with her....we miss her greatly! Thank you for stopping by! I saw you have a site as well...It is adorable! Good work!

      Sharon, so happy that this project works for you! I'm sure it is hard recovering after a stroke so I am glad I could help! It is sooooo simple and I'm sure your grandaughters will love it! I checked out your site and am a follower! Thanks for sharing.

      Brenda...I am so glad you stumbled onto the tutorial as well! You will LOVE how simple it is...I buy the 6 inch wide by 25 yard spool of tulle. You could just buy tulle though and cut in 6 inch stripes by however long you would like the tutu. I have also heard of others who have done this and use 4 inch stripes. I just like the 6 inch because I think it makes it a little more puffy :) Hope this helps and be sure to share your finished project!

      Thank you again ladies for stopping by and checking the site out!

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    11. Just wanted to say that I featured this today over on my blog! http://jellybeanjunkyard.wordpress.com

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    12. Love making these little tutus--and the tutu wearing sweetheart is adorable. Thanks for sharing.

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    13. So cute! And she looks adorable it it! My daughter loves to twirl in them!
      Thanks for linking up to Making It With Allie.
      I can't wait to see what you have next week!
      AllieMakes.Blogspot.com

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    14. Thanks for the tutorial...hopefully my three year old niece will love one of these.

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    15. Thank you for stopping by! I'm sure that she will LOVE it....I know my daughter loves dressing up in hers already and she is only 14 months old! If you make her one let me know and I can feature a photo of her on here! Thanks again for stopping by!

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    16. Sweet and simple! Love it! Pretty cute model too. Thanks for sharing.

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    17. What a great tutorial! I just used it to help make a tutu....you can see it here: http://mdschoolmrs.blogspot.com/2011/05/cuteness-in-form-of-tulle.html Your description of how to tie the tulle with the knot perfectly at the bottom was awesome - thank so much!

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    18. Great tutorial. There are so many tutu tutorials on the web, but I found that this is the best one. The loops around the elastic are done so neatly that the end product looks very finished and clean...no bulky knots spaced unevenly. Love it!

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