Tutu Tutorial

I did a guest post a while back on my friend Kirstikoos blog. I thought sharing the tutorial on my own blog would be a good way to kick off posting again! Enjoy!

This is a very simple tutorial for a cute poofy ballerina tutu!

Tutus are super fun for little girls! My 23 month old LOVES to prance around in them!

I included lots of pictures because I am a very visual learner! I tried to be extra clear on everything but if you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask!

You will need:

♥ About 18'' sewn elastic for the waist (this fits 6 months to about 8 years)

♥ 4 or 5 yards of tulle (I get mine at wal-mart for $1 a yard.) Get as many colors as you want!

♥ A good pair of scissors

For this tutu, I used 2 yards of black and 3 yards of pink. The first step is to unfold your tulle (not all the way, just so it looks like it was freshly cut from the bolt). Then cut into separate yards. So I cut my black right down the middle and my pink into 3rds. You could also just ask the fabric cutter to cut each yard separately for you when you buy it!

After that you need to turn your pieces long ways... like the picture on the left. The fold should be on either the right or left NOT top or bottom. So in the picture, the one on the left is CORRECT, the one on the right below my doggie is WRONG.

Take your yards and roll each one of them up like the tulle on the left.

Your tulle should be all rolled up now like the picture shows. One roll per yard.

Then, cut a little off each end of your rolls and discard. This gets rid of the fold on the one side, and makes everything nice and even.

Then cut each roll of tulle into 5 or 6 inch pieces. It doesn't have to be perfect, tutu's are a very forgiving craft!

You should end up with several small rolls like these.

Then unroll your little rolls, you will have two long strips from each roll. Cut right down the middle (making 4 strips), do this with each roll. Now you are ready to make your tutu!

This part is hard to explain but hopefully will make sense. Take one of your strips and fold it down the middle. Lay your elastic on top of your strip, close to the center fold (should be a loop) at the top. Take your two ends at the bottom and put them through the loop, the elastic should be in the middle of the loop and two ends. Pull it tight.

It should look like this, if the elastic folds in half, it doesn't matter. It wont end up showing!

Keep adding your strips in the pattern you want. For this tutu I did 2 pinks then 1 black repeated. Be sure to keep the strips close together so you can make your tutu really poofy!

Your done!! Wasn't that easy???

Linking to:
I heart Naptime
My backyard Eden
Blue Cricket Design
Sister Stuff
Somewhat Simple