How to Make a Tulle Tutu

Little girls as young as two years old are not too young to enjoy wearing a homemade tutu and pretending to be a ballerina. Making a simple no-sew tutu for a little ballerina out of tulle and elastic is a quick project that can be finished in less than an hour. There is only one small step that involves taking a few stitches and the rest of the project involves simple tying. The tutu you can create will delight your dancer and amaze you.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Rotary cutter
• Cutting mat
• Straight-edge ruler
• 1/2-inch wide elastic
• For toddler sizes: 6 yards of tulle (bicolor tutu: 3 yards of two colors)
• For preschool sizes and up: 8 yards of tulle (bicolor tutu: 4 yards of two colors)
• Varying lengths of 1/4-inch-wide ribbon (optional)

1. Measure around the biggest point of the child's waist and subtract two inches from this measurement. Cut the elastic this length. This will be the waistband of the tutu.

2. Cut all of the tulle into sections 20 inches by six inches. This will make the tulle easier to work with. Smooth one piece of tulle at a time onto the cutting mat and use the straight-edge ruler and the rotary cutter to cut the tulle into smaller sections measuring four to six inches each. Cutting the tulle into six-inch sections will take longer, but this will produce a fuller tutu. Cut each smaller section of tulle in half width-wise to make them shorter.

3. Begin to construct the tutu. If you are making a bi-color tutu, layer three strips of tulle in alternating colors (if you're doing a single color, just layer three strips). Fold the group in half, making a loop. Place this folded group of strips in front of the elastic with the loop at the top just slightly higher than the elastic. Grab the ends of the strips, wrapping around the elastic and take the ends through the original loop. This creates a knot around the elastic. Tighten this knot, but do not tighten so much that it becomes impossible to move or adjust the position of the knot along the elastic.

4. If you are making a bi-color tutu, make another group of three strips of tulle, but this time alternate the colors in the order opposite of the last group. Continue alternating back and forth with colors for each group of strips. For a single-color tutu, just continue to make more three-strip groups.

5. Once the elastic is full of tied groups of strips, sew the two ends of elastic together either by hand or machine. Conceal the sewn ends by adjusting one or two tied strips over the ends. If adding ribbon embellishments, tie them on in the same way as the strips of tulle. Position these ribbon knots evenly around the elastic.

Tips & Warnings

• To finish the tutu, there are two options. The first option is a ballerina look. For this option, trim all the groups of tulle to an even measurement. For a toddler tutu, trim to eight inches and for a larger tutu, cut to a slightly longer measurement. The second option is a "fairy look." For this option, simply fluff the groups of tulle out and allow them to look messy.