Okay, this past weekend everyone had a President's Day sale so I decided to take advantage of it by buying a few supplies. I guess I got excited and started making some stuff. One item I made was a pink tulle tutu for my baby girl in anticipation of her first birthday party. I found this photo on the web and wanted to make a similar one.
Here's the outcome of the one I made. I may trim the bottom a little although I haven't made up my mind. My baby is a tall one so I'll have to wait and see.
- 1 and a half rolls of 6" wide pink tulle (find it where wedding stuff is sold in most craft stores)
- 1" wide elastic
- 1" wide pink satin ribbon
I started by taking the elastic and wrapping it around my baby's waist. She's currently 10 months old so I'm making it a little big. Most people will say to cut away an inch or 2 so it will hug your baby's waist and fit properly. Anyhow, I cut the elastic and hand stitched the ends together. (Since my sewing machine is put away I didn't feel like pulling it out and setting it up just to sew the ends of the elastic together.) Next I cut my tulle into strips. Figure out how long you want the skirt to be, double that and add an inch or two and cut your strips of tulle in this total length. You'll need to fold them in half later. Now cut your strips down the middle. My strips were about 31" long. Now... it's time to start attaching the tulle to the elastic.
Here's where I did my own little twist. I wanted a ribbon tie on mine and I hadn't found a tutorial on doing both an elastic waist band that included ribbon so I did my own thing. As I tied my tulle I wrapped it around both the elastic and the ribbon. I didn't do anything special or extra with the ribbon. It is not sewn to the elastic, this way it moves freely. In detail when I tied the tulle I folded my strips individually in half, creating a loop at the bend. Holding the loop behind my elastic and then bent it over the front (over the ribbon).
I then pulled the tulle through the loop and pulled down.
Next, I tied a single knot at the bottom to secure it in place. This helps not to have a bulky fat knot appearance. Now, repeat. Each time sliding it down so that it sits close to the previous piece.
My daughter's tutu for her first birthday party!!!...
Update: I ended up cutting a few inches off of the bottom of the tutu. This is what it looks like after cutting it...
To cut it I simply opened it and let it lay flat on the floor and cut the bottom all the way around. I like it much better at this shorter length and my baby girl was SO cute in it! ;)
Please share pics of your tutu... I'd love to see other hand made tutus. :) Post your link below in the comment section.
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Update (April 2013): I've recently made another tutu using ribbon and tulle. You can check out my post on this tutu here.
This turned out really pretty!! Thanks so much for sharing :)
ReplyDeleteThank you so much!
ReplyDeleteHey there, I found some wonderful ideas on your site... thank you for sharing!! I want to make a tutu for my daughters birthday and I found some beautiful dark purple tulle and white polka dotted tulle. With your experience, do you think I should alternate them or is there any way I could over lap them and use two pieces of tulle ever time I pull it through. Your opinion is greatly appreciated!!
ReplyDeleteI tried figuring out a way to contact you when you originally posted your comment. I wish I had your email address to send you a direct reply.
ReplyDeleteTo answer your question, I would alternate colors because if you put 2 pieces of tulle together it will make the waist band kinda thick/fat. Since the tulle pieces will be close together it will give that randomness of color you're wanting.
Thank you so much for posting making this for my daughters first birthday also
ReplyDeleteLove it! My little girl is turning 1 on April and her party is going to be all about tutus! Thanks for sharing :)
ReplyDeleteNice Nina!!! I like your handmade tutu! so beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI too am going to make some Tutus for the little girls at my nursery school. When my daughter was young I made halos and wands for a tea ( birthday) party. Wish I had known how easy the tutu's are to make, I'd have made them also. Those of you with little girls, the halos are easy to make with a base of the wire folks use on packages (like ribbon).. the wire has stars or other shapes incorporated into the wire... it's stiff enough to use as a base for halos... wind curling ribbon around this wire- and leave long pieces that you curl.you can also glue flowers over the top of the curls. the wands were a towel... sprayed with paint... hot glue a tule puff on top and add more curling ribbon... very easy. My daughter's best friend ( now 25) still has her halo and wand... nice remembrance of days gone bye.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting easy instructions on this tutu for a little girl. My daughter is expecting a girl in July. The baby shower is Tiffany and Co with a lot of girly decorations including tulletulle, ribbon, pearls, tiaras, etc. I thought it would be a great gift idea to make the baby her very own tiffany blue tutu to match the theme of the baby shower. I can't wait to see hiw it turn out! :-)
ReplyDeleteAwesome Tutorial! Thank You For Posting. tutus for girls are always awesome
ReplyDelete