diy: easy tulle tutu

things like this make me wish i had a little girl to dress up.

but things like this also would make my pocket book (& my husband) cringe.

i'm not a girly girl, but i played barbie as a kid too!

so instead i make them for friends. cousins. neighbors. pretty much anyone with a little girl who will let me put it on their kid!

a little research & some trial & error & here is what i've come up with that works for me...

easy tulle tutu:

-elastic for the waistband
-25 yard roll of tulle
-needle & thread
-large book
-scissors
-glitter spray for hair (optional)
-diet coke for late night refreshment


















there are a few variations where the tulle is concerned. for a 1-3 yr old girl, the average is about a 15 inch waist, and i've found that one 25 yard spool of tulle is enough. obviously if you'd like to, you can mix up the colors. that's what i did below.

1. measure your recipients waste. subtract about 1 1/2 -2 inches. (you want the elastic to fit snug on the waste & it stretches a bit as you add tulle) cut your elastic to size. sew ends together with needle & thread. (i cut my elastic in half first because it was a little too wide, but i wanted to use what i had on hand.

2. starting with the end of the tulle at the open edge of the book, wrap the tulle around. essentially you want the width of the book to be the length you want your skirt. you could also cut a piece of poster board to size. here, this book was just perfect for my little 2 year old cousin.

3. once all your tulle is wrapped, cut along the open edge of the book. repeat last steps for as many colors of tulle as wanted. when finished set aside.

4. put your waistband around a book the same size. or you could cut another piece of cardboard to size.

5. fold your piece of tulle in half. slide the bent part down through the top of the waistband.

6. feed the two loose ends through the loop & pull down.

7. repeat above steps until waistband is covered.



8. trim ends if necessary. here where the optional glitter spray comes in. a can of that stuff lasts forever. you can save yourself on the glitter tulle (which comes in 10 yard spools) and just spray your tutu  (outside of course!) with the hair spray. this orange tulle was glittered, it was stiff & a pain to work with, not to mention i now have glitter stuck to my floor, in between my toes & on rance's head. take my advice. skip the glitter tulle & just spray that bad boy afterwards!

xo-k

ps- sorry for the sub-par photos.. lately all my crafting has been late night..(but look at the pretty bokeh in the last one!)