Wednesday, October 21, 2009

TUTUtorial! No Sewing required!

As I promised, I will be sharing my tutu making experience. I made a white TUTU for Duke City Derby's good VS evil bout. Our team won, by the way.

So, one of the most important things I have learned in life is that ALMOST everything is easier than it looks. The same is true with tutus.


You will need a few things. Ribbon or string, and Tulle. For ease I purchased rolls of Tulle that were not very wide. They sold it in many different colors at Micheal's in the wedding favor department. If you purchase it by the yard you can cut it so that it is 2"-12" wide. The narrower the strips the more ethereal and whimsical the outcome will be (see the tutu I made for Autumn) I used 12" strips for my tutu.

Measure your waist and add enough to the ribbon to tie the ends. I then folded the ribbon to make sure my tutu was centered and marked the waist measurement so I knew how many "knots" to make.

Decide how long you want the tutu to be and double that. Add about two inches (it will be dissolved in knotting and fluff) cut several strips of tulle that are that long.



I then tied the ribbon taught between two sturdy objects ( a bed and a playpen in my case) because I thought it made it easier.

This is the meat of making a tutu. this knot right here. To make it fold a strip of tulle in half and hold the loop up to the ribbon. Then bring the tails of the tulle around the ribbon and through the loop.



And repeat.


....and repeat

.... and repeat until you have filled the waist measurement. Then untie it from the objects that are holding the ribbon taught and tie it around your waist! Voila! An easy no sew tutu!


And just in time to make that fairy or princess costume for Halloween!



AND I used scraps (I trimmed the bottom of the tutu to make it more even) to make a tutu for Autumn.


If you like to sew you can make a variation where the string that you tie the knots around is just longer than the waist measurement and then sew the ribbon on top for a more finished looking waist.

Also, notice that in Autumns Tutu there are other colors, you can do this by alternating colors of tulle.

7 comments:

  1. Loving it! Are you trying to put us seamstresses out of work?!?! (jk) :) T.

    ReplyDelete
  2. HaHa! no!

    I'm a fashion designer! I don't want to do that!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Aw, that bottom photo is so cute!!

    I've made similar tutus for my daughters, but used elastic instead of ribbon... yours looks SO much better! The elastic always got twisted and turned and after only a couple of wears, the tutus were a tangled mess. I'll definitely try the ribbon tutu! Thanks for the tutorial!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Very cute tutorial!
    ~Kim~
    P.S. Thank you for stopping by my blog :0)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi, Erica! Thanks so much for visiting me--so great to meet you and find your fun, creative place in blogland. LOVE this tutu...and terrific tutorial. My little nieces would love something like this! Thanks for sharing a great idea and how to do it! :o)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I have a huge stash of tulle and have been thinking about making a tutu or two. I was dreading all the sewing but this a perfect method. Thanks so much! (now I just have to figure out if I'm willing to actually *wear* one :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. that is funny green cottage gallery! I HATE how I look in mine! I am not as thin as my dress form :)

    ReplyDelete