Friday, February 27, 2009

TuTu for You You

my cute little neice turned 3 last week! i honestly can't believe it! she LOVES to dress up as princesses and ballerinas so i got a little creative for her birthday this year and made her a tutu! it was SO easy and turned out SO cute!

i started with sparkle tulle, i bought it at hobby lobby for $5.00 and a 1" elastic for $2.00! and that was all i needed!!! Start by measureing a small waist. i secretly used her's while she was over here playing. cut the elastic and pin it where you will later sew.

then, cut the fabric in stripes. this part is totally up to you. the shorter the fabric the more poofy the tutu, the longer the fabric....well, the longer the tutu! (but remember you'll be folding them in half, so whatever length you want, double it.) my length was around 20'' total, i think!

fold the piece in half, hold the folded part on the bottom edge of the elastic. loop the rest of the strip behind the elastic and through the fold!! see...NO SEWING! you're just tying knots.

i used two different colors and alternated every other one.
whe you're getting close to the end, sew the ends of the elastic together.
the easiest way to do this, sew a square with an "x" through it. it will ensure that your elastic never comes undone. (as you can see the blue thread from my burp rags was still in the sewing machine....oh well!)
trim off the loose strings and finish knotting the rest of your fabric around the elastic. if you pull the knots too tight, the elastic will fold. and you don't want that! but pull them through tight enough to stay! (if that makes any sense!) you can sew along the inside knots, threw the elastic if you're having a hard time with the elastic staying unfolded. i didn't though!

and lastly, see how it works. as you know, i only have a BoY! so he was the tester of my latest product. at first he was a little reluctant....
.....but then he really liked it! he ran all over the house pulling out some of his sweetest dance moves to date!!

all in all, it's a fun, easy craft even the kids could make! it only took about a half hour and a small amount of patience!

the tutu was a HIT at the party! and she loved her new dress up attire!!

5 comments:

Amanda said...

Cute Marci! I love it!! She is such a little Diva! If I could just talk Bailey into the princess stuff instead of Mickey mouse Clubhouse,.. Luckily she loves Pwitties in her hair!

Sanders said...

That picture of Haven is Darling. LIttle Beverely Hills princess. Good going! ;)

The Stoddard Show said...

super cute! i love the bedroom redo. thanks for sharing your cute ideas.

m@R(! said...

love it...i think i might do it!!

Johnsens said...

Your niece is darling...she reminds me of the book Fancy Nancy. What a great idea, my niece would love this!