How to Make a Baby Garden Fairy Tu-tu

Fairy tu-tu skirts are a classic costume for babies.

Tu-tu skirts are a favorite dress up outfit for young girls and babies. Baby garden fairy tu-tu skirts are a particularly popular choice. Instead of spending a lot of money purchasing a tu-tu that's a carbon copy of millions of others, make and customize your own with a few basic items. It's inexpensive and fun, and the memories of a tu-tu made by mommy will be long-lasting and priceless.

Things You'll Need

• Measuring tape
• Elastic
• Needle and thread or sewing machine
• 6 yards green tulle
• 3 yards purple ribbon
• 3 yards yellow ribbon
• 3 yards light pink ribbon
• Glue gun
• 3 silk flowers, color of choice

Instructions

1. Measure your baby’s waist and cut the elastic accordingly.

2. Sew the elastic band into a circle, overlapping the ends just about 1/4 inch.

3. Cut the green tulle into 1-foot-long strips right off the spool. If you didn't get a spool of tulle, cut 3-inch-wide strips. Three-inch-wide strips work well because they are neither too wide nor too narrow, so they create a lot of fluff for the tu-tu.

4. Tie the tulle strips onto the elastic waistband. The lengths do not have to be perfectly even. In fact, it creates a bit of visual depth if they are not all tied at the same length. Pattern your tulle and ribbon in an orderly fashion. One pattern option, for example, is to tie three pieces of tulle, then one ribbon, then back to three more pieces of tulle and another color ribbon then three more pieces of tulle and the third color of ribbon, all the way around

5. Heat your glue gun and cut the majority of the length of the stems off of three silk flowers. Hot glue the three flowers in a row on the front of the tu-tu.

Tips & Warnings

• Be sure to tie all the knots of tulle and ribbon on one side of the elastic so that there are minimal bumps in the waistband.

• Keep the size of the flowers in proportion to the baby. If your baby is very small, large flowers will overwhelm the look. Make-Your-Own-Baby-Stuff.com suggests using rosettes on the tu-tu.

References

• Make Your Own Baby Stuff: Tutus