for Hannah

tutu tutorial

22 comments

I have always wanted to buy my girls one of these tutus that can be found in boutiques and craft fairs but have been to cheap to pay the $15+ price tag. Upon inspection I noticed that they were just elastic with strips of tulle tied onto the elastic. I thought…I can do that. So I finally got around to doing it and they are so simple. Really! I spent about $3 on tulle from JoAnn’s (use your 40% off coupon), and used some elastic and flowers left over from previous projects. (I found my little rose bud flowers at Wal-Mart and had used them to make some baby head bands when my baby was a newborn).

I took some elastic (any size will do) and measured it so that it fit nicely around my baby’s tummy. Then I sewed it together with the sewing machine several times so that it would not unravel. (You can also hand stitch it).

Then I took my tulle (originally I used tulle from the bolt to make the smaller tutu which is a bit cheaper than on the spool. I found the spool tulle in the wedding aisle at JoAnn’s, which I will be using for the longer skirt for my older daughter). Anyways, cut your tulle into 6 inch wide strips with the length being double that of how long you want your skirt to fall. So…for the baby I wanted it to be 10 inches long so that it fell a bit below her knees. I cut my tulle into strips that measured 6 x 20 inches. Make sense?

For the baby I ended up using about 2 yards of tulle total cut into strips. You will need more for a bigger skirt. Originally I did not get enough and had to go back for more :(!

Then slip the circle of elastic up onto your thigh and while sitting on the couch with your feet propped drinking your favorite soda, scratch that…I just quit…ice water, tie each strip onto the elastic with a double knot. Your skirt will be more uniform if you make sure that the knots are at the base of your elastic.

Then when your tulle fills the elastic to your liking your done. So simple. But of course I wanted to add a little something extra. I hot glued three rose buds in the center of the tutu!

I am really happy with how it turned out. And you cannot beat the price tag! By the way, I would love to see how your projects turn out if you ever use any of these ideas. So if you want to you can leave me a comment and a link to your pics.