Make It Pretty Wednesdays: Tutu + Tutorial = Tututorial

Sorry. I know… bad joke. I couldn’t help myself.

Let’s start at the beginning: Three years ago, I met Tycie. Since we became friends, she has been endowing me with little bits of creative brilliance, usually involving ribbon, glitter or pretty paper. How to make a tutu was the very first thing that she showed me how to do! And they are SO easy! These tutus require just two half-inch seams, about $10 of supplies and under a half hour of time!

How much tulle you will need depends on what size of tutu, in addition to what length and thickness that you would like. I will talk more about that below. For the sake of simplicity, my example will be for a baby tutu, fitting a typical 12 month old. Here is my friend’s adorable little girl:

You will need:

• 1/2″ wide elastic cut to fit the waist of your lucky tutu recipient
• 54″ wide tulle, four colors at 1/2 yard each
• 3/8″ grosgrain ribbon, about 4 ft.
• Scissors
• Thread

1. Sew your elastic ends together, forming a circle. They should overlap about 3/4″ to allow the tutu to fit snugly. I usually use two seams as shown in the picture:



2. Cut your tulle into strips. For this little tutu, I cut the 54″ into two 27″ sections and then cut 3-4″ strips.



3. Begin knotting the strips of tulle around the elastic keeping the ends extending out from the circle in a consistent pattern. The ends should be approximately the same length.



4. Continue until you have filled up the elastic. It is very important to not overcrowd them. A smidge of the elastic should be visible between each knot.



5. Leaving enough to tie one side of a bow (I left about 12 inches), begin wrapping the ribbon around the elastic moving forward around the next knot with each pass.



6. Continue until you meet up with the other side and finish with a bow.
7. Trim any longer pieces of tulle and fluff! Voila! You have an adorable tutu!

Note: The tutu in the pink ballerina picture required about 5 yards of tulle. I did leave the strips at the full 54″ length. They turned out to be about 5″ by 54″. The tutu in the darling fairy-winged toddler picture was made with about 5 yards of 44″ wide tulle. I left it the full width, cut 5″ strips and then trimmed a bit. I didn’t want it to slow down the little two year old that we gave it to! You can use whatever kind of ribbon you would like. Satin is really pretty and easier than grosgrain to wrap around the elastic. Usually, thinner ribbon works best for the itty bitty baby sizes.

These tutus make dazzling photo props! They are fantastic birthday presents! I have heard many squeals of delight when my daughter’s little girlfriends pull a bright, fun, made-in-their-favorite-colors tutu out of the package! And they are some of the most adored items in my daughter’s dress-up box! The possibilities for these tutus are endless and fabulously fun!

A big “thank you” to Tyce! You are wonderfully creative and I feel fortunate to call you my friend!

See you next week!

Natalie