How to Make a Tutu

Let me start off by saying that I know this is not an original idea.  These things are all over Etsy and tutorials are on so many sites that I don’t know who to link to give credit to.

BUT, they are all on crafty sites.  So many of you like to do crafts with your children, but admit that you aren’t that crafty.  So this is me sharing the tutus I made and trying to convince you that you can, too.

You will need a yard of elastic (not really a yard, but it’s better to have too much than not enough) and 10 yards of tulle.  I chose two different colors, so 5 yards of each. 

Take a piece of elastic and measure around your child’s waist.  Sew the ends together.  The NO SEW option is to just tie the ends together in a good knot.  It will work, I promise!

Then take your tulle and lay the entire piece of fabric out.  Now fold/roll it about 4 inches wide. 

Now take your sharpest scissors and cut up both sides to make 4 inch strips.  Trust me, this is waaaay better than cutting 10 yards into 4 inch strips.

Since my daughter is little, I cut off about 4 inches from the end with the fold.  You can just cut about an inch off if your child is taller (that is what is pictured above).  Charley wears a size 3T, if that helps.

Now take a strip of tulle and tie it in a square knot on the elastic.  Put the middle of the strip on the elastic and tie.

It is going to look pretty silly, but it builds up to something cool.  On a side note, if you want your tutu to stand out and be extra poofy like this one, you need to tie the knot like I did on the flat part of the elastic.  If you want your tutu to lay nice and pretty, you will need to tie the knot on the edge. 

One way to easily hold the elastic while knotting the strips is to just slip it on your leg up to your thigh.  Like a giant garter.

Since I did two colors, I tied two strips of white then two strips of pink.  I continued this until the entire elastic band was covered.  This took me about 30 minutes.

Guess what?  You’re done!  This tutu was such a hit with Charley that she wore it to pick up Cole from preschool.  Another mom saw it and asked me to make one for each of her daughters.  I made theirs pink and purple.  Her daughters love to play princesses and fairies. 

Tutus aren’t just for being dancers.  Tell that to her, though.

 

You can easily make this yourself.  I bought my tulle at JoAnn Fabrics.  Tulle is rarely on sale, but you can use the 40% coupon they always have.  You can get one in the front of the store with their current flyer.  My store has tulle for $1.43/yard.  Using the coupon I got all of the fabric I needed for just $8.58.  Then you can buy elastic by the yard.  Mine was only 80 cents. 

So this tutu cost me less than $10 and took less than an hour to make from everything in the store bag to everything on my daughter.  Honestly, you can do it.  What a great gift this could be!

Kim