Tutus!

11/19/10

Making tutus seems to all the rage right now. 

 

 You've probably seen a lot of these: made by tying strips of tulle to an elastic waistband. My friend Nadia made this one that Madelyn wore to Disneyland. They are super cute and fun, but require a lot of material/cutting time/tying time.

Plus, they're itchy. If there's one thing I know about wearing tulle (from my ballet days) is that it is really uncomfortable to wear right against your skin. So when I found myself with a whole bunch of tulle from remnants and from my mom, I figured out how to make an easier, quicker, less-itchy version.

 

 Start with 1-4 yards of tulle (1 yard for newborn, 2 for toddler, 3 for girl, 4+ for adult). Fold lengthwise in half, then in half again (keep going if you want it shorter and fuller) and press with iron on the LOWEST setting. Don't go at it with a hot iron like I did once and melt a giant hole in your tulle. You'll be mad.

 

Sew a basting stitch about 1/2 inch from the edge. Backstitch to secure while you're beginning to sew the tulle, but don't do it at the other end. Leave several inches of thread hanging on the loose end.

 

Grab one (not both) of the loose threads and pull. The tulle will start gathering--keep pulling gently, working it down the entire length until you've reached your desired amount of poofiness. Then tie a knot in the loose thread.

 

Sew to a length of wide ribbon. Try to sew directly over the existing stitch line so it will look neater. Seal the edges of your ribbon with Fray Check or a lighter. In earlier versions, I sewed the tulle to elastic first, then hot glued it to the ribbon. It just made the waistband stiffer but didn't do much else, so I decided that sewing it straight to the ribbon was better and less work.

 

 Isn't he adorable!!? :) This was the first tutu I attempted and I've given it to Maria so she can take pictures of her soon to be newborn (girl) in it. HINT HINT.

 

This was the last tutu I made (out of about a dozen) and it is long and full enough to go all the way around Madelyn's waist. Most of the other tutus were just fluff in the front and nothin' in the back. This one took almost 3 yards, but my girl is skinny, so you may need more.

 

 

 

 They're fun to embellish with ribbon roses, flowers, sequins, etc. If you wanted to put silk rose petals inside the folds and then stitch up the edges, that would be cute, too.

 

I'm making one for everyone these days.

 

Plain Onesie + iron-on applique + tutu= great baby gift

Try them! You'll be surprised at how easy they are.