How to Make a Tutu
Stacy GrissomDescription
Whether you are making a tutu as part of a Halloween costume or just a fun accessory for dress-up, you can get the kids involved with this easy no-sew project. Stacy Grissom shows you how to turn strips of tulle into a fun tutu, varying the lengths and widths of the tulle for different looks and even adding pops of color with ribbon.
Tulle is a great fabric to work with for no-sew projects because it doesn’t ravel, which means there is no need to finish any ends. If you are planning on making several tutus, or one with lots of narrow strips, consider using a rotary cutter, ruler, and mat to speed up the cutting process. Because tulle is a fairly light-weight fabric, you can fold it in half several times or stack up multiple layers to cut at once. If you are using tulle that has sequins or other embellishments on the fabric, try to cut your strips around the embellishments, or remove them from the cutting line with a pair of scissors prior to using the rotary cutter. Hitting one with your rotary cutter could dull or damage your blade.
For little kids, playing dress up is pretty magical. My niece is going through her ballerina phase so she wanted some tutus. Tutus are really easy, they're actually a no-sew project. So you just need some ribbon and some tulle. To make a tutu, you need enough ribbon to go around the kiddo or adult's waste. And then I like to add a good 12 inches on each end so you can have a nice big bow. To determine how long you want your tulle to be, you need to measure from the kiddo's waist to the floor, and decide if they want it short or long or medium. This one's going to be short, is short, it's actually finished. And I cut two inch strips of tulle, and that makes it really nice and poofy, perfect for a ballerina. My niece also wanted an Elsa from "Frozen" inspired tutu. So for this one, I've got light blue tulle, and I've got it on this yardstick, just to make it a little easier to tie on. So all you do is just take your tulle, and this time I cut six inch wide strips so it would flow a little nicer. And stick your ends under and stick your ends through the loop. Get all the other tulle out the way and pull. Push it down, and when you do the next one, when you're all done, you'll spread them out a bit. I've got knots tied here and here so that I know the waist measurement. This is how much ribbon needs to go around her waist, and then these on the ends are my ties so I know exactly where to stop putting tulle. And you just slip your ends under and pull. So I'm just doing a little slipknot. And I decided that the blue tulle is not really showing up quite as much as I'd like it to. So I'm gonna add in some ribbon, just to give it a little bit more color. So I want my ribbon pieces to be about the same length as my tulle, so I'm gonna take one of them, these guys. And you just loop it over and cut. To get the ribbon on there, I want it to be kind of threaded through some of the tulle so that it's laying on top of it instead of between pieces. So I'm gonna come over here, I'm gonna come under one of the loops. I'll bring my ends together. I'm actually gonna stick it under that guy. Pull that tulle piece back tight. And I'll do that maybe every six or so inches. When you're done, you take it off the yardstick, that's it, tie it on your little ballerina.
how many yards of toil do you have to purchase for a small child? thanks