I don’t know about you, but I like to take gift giving as an opportunity to try something new when it comes to sewing and crafting.
Yesterday we attended our friends, Patrick and Anita’s daughter Ella’s 2nd birthday party. I had never made a tutu before, but I figured what little girl doesn’t love a tutu? My 2.5 year old daughter loves dress-up right now so I imagine Ella will start to get into that as well.
This tutu would be perfect as a fairy princess costume for Halloween – make your tutu, embellish a leotard, give your little one a wand and she’s ready for trick-or-treating fun! I think I might make several more of these to have around the house for playdates……..I’ve found with little ones, it’s always better to have more than one so we don’t have any fighting over tutus.
This tutu is practically no-sew, so even if you don’t consider yourself a sewer, give it a try. There is a tiny bit of sewing, but it can easily be done by hand. So let’s get started………
Supplies:
3 spools of tulle
1 piece of elastic (16″-20″ – depending on size)
Ribbon
Scissors
Thread
Sewing machine or hand sewing needle
Directions:
Gather your supplies. For a size 2T, I used 3 spools of tulle. For larger sizes, I would probably use four. Choose whatever colors you like. You can use all of the same color or all different colors.
Measure your child’s waist and subtract 2″. If you don’t have a child nearby, use these approximate elastic sizes:
12 month – 17″
2T – 18″
3T – 19″
4T – 19.5″
5T – 20″
Sew the two ends of the elastic together. You can do this by machine or by hand.
Cut the tulle into strips. For a size 2T, I cut the strips 30″ long. You will be doubling these up so they really will be about 14″ after doubling and knotting. Adjust accordingly depending on the height of your child. 30″ strips makes the 2T tutu fall right below the knee.
Here are all of the strips of tulle cut and ready to become a tutu!
Stretch your elastic around something round. Luckily I have children’s dress forms, so I just used my 2-year old, but look for anything around your house that will stretch the elastic…….maybe a canister in the kitchen? And yes, that is purple crayon all over this dress form – uggghh (thanks to my creative daughter Savannah).
Take three strips of tulle and knot them around the elastic. Don’t pull too tight, as you don’t want to bend your elastic. Do this all the way around the entire band of elastic. It’s the three pieces of tulle in each knot that really make this tutu nice and full.
Tie a knot at the bottom of each individual piece of tulle. I found doing this as I went was easier than saving it until the end, but do whatever works for you.
If you want to add a bit of whimsy, add some additional trim around the tutu.
I used long pieces of satin ribbon that I cut 26 inches long. I added them sporadically around the tutu and knotted them at the bottom.
I also tied a large satin bow on the center-back of the tutu.
Linking HERE.
Lindsay Wilkes is the owner and designer behind The Cottage Mama. She creates timeless, vintage inspired sewing patterns for children’s clothes. She is also a fabric designer for Riley Black Designers / Penny Rose Fabrics, author of the book ‘Sew Classic Clothes for Girls’ and can be seen teaching nationwide and online in her video series ‘Lessons with Lindsay’ sponsored by Baby Lock Sewing and Embroidery machines.
Now that is just 2 cute!! Oh how I wish I had girls! I would love to make stuff like that!! =) Great Job, I bet she loved it!
~Janice
How sweet! I love the colors and the ribbon for the extra cuteness!
I love it, beautiful colors also! I have never seen these type of tutus with knots on the end, and I also really like that, very creative!
I would like to make this for my 6 yr old for Halloween with black, orange, purple and/or green. So cute. Seems so easy…just time consuming. Thanks for the tutorial!
Oh gosh….gonna have to pick up some tulle for this one 🙂 too cute!
Very cute! I may have to make one of these for my baby girl to wear when she gets a bit older!
Lindsey this is soooooo cute and super easy. I can’t wait to make one for my granddaughter, Sophia when she can at least walk, (10 mon. old right now) Where do you get spools of tulle?? I have only seen it on bolts.
Cindy at Bumblebee and Sophie
[email protected]
so cute lindsey, my girls would love these, they’d probably never take them off!
So cute! I will definitely have to make one for my little princess.
I love your blog.
I left something for you on mine.
Samantha
Love it! I’m so gonna make one for my little girl. She is in that dress up age too and I’ve been meaning to start making a bunch of dress up stuff like princess dresses, etch. This is going on my list ;).
I read this post on Tuesday and it has stuck in my mind all day Wednesday! It is absolutely lovely. Perfect birthday gift!
This is the BEST! And easy, too! I can’t wait to give some as gifts for birthdays and Christmas!! I found your page on One Pretty Thing…thanks for sharing the (easy!) tutorial!
This is just the most gorgeous, sweetest thing, that I put it to keep in my file for when/if I ever have a granddaughter! I’m serious! (and my son is only 19!) I am just in love with this. You are truly gifted — your things and ideas are magical.
Best,
Gloria
Sooooo adorable! My youngest is turning 4 in November and I will be making this for her. I can just hear her squeals of delight all ready! Thank you for sharing!
Clorissa
Excellent tutorial! I hope you’ll stop by this week and link up to my Halloween Costume Tutorial link up at TheTrainToCrazy.com
Very cute. Found you on Tatortots and jello..now following you.
I love this! I’ve made tutus before but never done the knots at the end. Adorable!
Toooo cute and thanks for the tut Ÿ
so so so helpful. a friend and i both made one today! thanks for the great tutorial!
ninabunk.blogspot.com
if you want to check it out!
Nice tutu! I’m really grateful for providing the tutorial on how to make it. My little girl will surely love this! She received some 18 inch dolls, clothes, bags and colored pens last Christmas and I can see that she’s so happy receiving those gifts. That’s why her Dad is planning to give her 18 inch doll clothing on her birthday for the dolls she received. Thanks for sharing the lovely photos!
Thank you for this tutorial! I am brand new to sewing but I know that my girls will LOVE this. Thank you for providing this info.
Barb M.
thank you so much for that great idea!! Im jz estimating how much will it cost me to hire a skilled sewer to make a fairy tutu for my little girl that she’ll be using in her cousin’s party!! TNX 2 DS IDEA, I KNOW NOW WAT 2 DO..
looks beautiful! thank you for sharing this lovely tutorial! 🙂
THANK YOU! I’ve been looking for something like this for ages. I’ve made tutus for my girls before but they always bunch up really badly and I think the knotting will take care of that problem. I cannot wait to try one of these!
This tutu came out adorable! All of a sudden I’m getting really crafty lately by making headbands with the big flowers on them, I have so much fun & I wanted to make matching tutu’s so I think this will really help me out! Thanks 🙂
I was wondering if you doubled the ribbon as well or if you just knotted it at the top? I couldn’t really tell from the picture.
Just too cute. Heading out to Joanns tomorrow to get the tulle to make this for my great granddaughter. She loves tutus and has several but not as cute as this one.
Thanks so much for the tute.
Your blog is great and I love following it.
This is going on my to do list! I have 8 granddaughters. Better get busy!
I am going to do a photo shoot with my litte great neice on Saturday and I wanted her to have a tutu, I made one last night by these instructions, I did yellow and cream tulle and orange ribbon. It is just beautiful, have not tied knots in the bottom but will tonight, I bought a big orange fall flower and an orange silk butterfly for the photo shoot.. it will be with bales of hay an pumpkins… Cant wait.. Thanks for your easy instructions…
This is darling, and your tutorial is excellent! I’m including this in a mega Homemade Halloween Costume round up on my blog this week : )
Jaimee @ craft-interrupted.blogspot.com
Gorgeous!! I love this tutu, I want to make one for my granddaughter, but in Australia we only get bolts of tulle, so how wide are your strips??
Just too adorable. Heading out to Joanns next week to find the tulle to produce this particular with regard to our wonderful daughter. She enjoys tutus and contains a number of and not as pretty because this one.
Thank you a great deal for that tute.
Your blog post is great and that i love following this.
Lindsay, this is so cute!! Not your typical tutu. Most tutus don’t have the knots tied in the tulle. Love it – thanks for sharing. http://sweetandsassygirl.com http://sweetbabystylishmom.com
Such a cute tutu. I’m in the process of making it now. I bought the tulle on the bolts & cut the strips . Hubby helped with this. I know I will be buying the spools from now on!
Thanks for tour tutorial!
I love this idea. I work at a day camp and actually had 18 five and six year olds make their own. While their cutting wasn’t always straight and their strips were not the same length it really didn’t matter. In the end their tutus looked amazing and we made matching wands!! Everyone was very jealous of us!
Thanks again,
Robin
Stupid question – how thick is the elastic? Does it matter?
muchas gracias por la indicacion me hacia falta para lograrlo ya que no tenia idea de como hacerlo
It is our hornor to have a see at your blog,it really is great. This helped me out a lot. Very well written and easy to follow. Thanks so much for your love to all. I’m a editor of rsorder.com that offers runescape gold for sale
Good tutu! I really appreciate provides a tutorial on how to implement it. My little girl would love this! She received some 18 inches of toys, clothes, bags, and color pen last Christmas, I can see she is very happy to receive the gift. This is why her father is planning to give her 18-inch dolls clothes on her birthday, she received the dolls. Thanks for sharing the lovely pictures!
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Do you know how many yards of tulle are on a spool? Im not sure i can buy it bythe spool around me….unless i order it. If anyone else knows thatd be great too! I want to make an adult sized one!! 😉 <3
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