Maybe I just wanted another clever way to work the world 'tutu' into a blog post title. Or maybe I just wanted a reason to post the adorable tutu making photos I took of my lovely assistant, Illusia. Either way, this is a really simple, cheap, fast way to make a cute, poofy tutu w/ no sewing or crafty experience necessary!
A little back story: I first wanted to buy a tutu for my daughter's birthday but found out they are very freakin expensive. At about $15-30 dollars a pop (depending on fanciness, number of colors, etc.) it was not in my budget. That is right my girl deserves nothing but the best I can afford.
So, I looked up some tutorials online, more than some, there must be hundreds. I finally narrowed it down to one that had good instructions and images: plumtickled tutu tutorial and followed what worked.
So, I looked up some tutorials online, more than some, there must be hundreds. I finally narrowed it down to one that had good instructions and images: plumtickled tutu tutorial and followed what worked.
It looked pretty simple even for a person like me who has about 10 accumulated hours in sewing experience from high school Home Ec. I went in the wedding section of Joann's Fabric and got two rolls of 1 yard X 6 inch pink tulle at $2.50 ea, a pink 'princess' ribbon for $1.99 and a roll of elastic for $0.99. With tax that came to around $6.00.
First you need a cute assistant. Preferably one under 3 feet, with very little teeth but lots of unneeded input. Like so;
Measure the person you want to tutuize. Mine happens to be one in the same as fore mentioned assistant. They state to measure 3 inches less to your elastic but I actually measured it 2 inches more because of my alternative plan to sewing. I call it the 'tie it in a knot' plan.
Also I was more comfortable making slipknots rather than double knots because they were easier to line up and fix and it just went a lot faster. I just looped them one after the other and tied the tutu together at the end and cut off the spare elastic. Here is an excellent tutorial on slipknots: Slipknot Tutorial
Afterward it is just a lot of slip, loop and repeat until you have the whole thing covered to desired density. 1 roll almost fit Illusia's waist but I wanted something a lot thicker and frillier so I went with 2 full rolls. This whole process should take about a half hour of looping and stringing and 2 days of fending off your assistant. This is what I finished in day 1:
In fact I might recommend a second assistant to watch your first assistant and keep her from crawling away with the tape measure, trying to eat the tulle and staring in awe at the shiny scissors and making you a nervous wreck. Just a tip.
As far as the ribbon goes, I just used some fabric glue to glue on the ribbon over the top edge of the tutu. It came out okay. But it is my first time. I am kind of addicted now and waiting for a reason, any reason to make another one.
