a beautiful girl's tutu

No little girl's life can be complete without a tutu.

It was one of the things that excited me most about being a girly mama.

As a child I did years of ballet dancing and plenty of shows

every time hoping that I would get the costume of choice:

the tutu.

So I set about making my little lady a tutu of her own.

There is something so gorgeous about a little girl in a big fluffy tutu

plus it might just inspire her inner dancer

ready for when she can start ballet lessons.

She has two tutus already

because they are just so easy to make.

So I thought I'd pop a tutorial together to show you how I did it.

This is a seriously easy project that I knocked up in a few of hours.

I'm already wondering if I could scale it up and make a mummy-sized one.

You need scissors, rolls of tulle and either ribbon or elastic for the waistband.

I've made one with ribbon and one with elastic

and they both work equally well.

I'd really recommend using one of those large elastic headbands if you want to go with elastic,

these worked out as a great fit on my daughter

(and my son for that matter - he's had a model of both tutus so I could see how they'd work on a toddler-sized child.)

I'd also recommend using the tulle on a roll.

You could use larger fabric and cut it into strips yourself

but I always find the cutting bit of any project the most boring bit

and buying the rolls massively reduces your cutting time.

Also make sure it is the soft tulle

and not the really scratchy stiff stuff.

These tutus puff out just fine with the softer fabric,

plus it's easier to work with

and kinder on baby skin.

I purchased lots of different pastel colours of tulle for different tutus I have planned.

But the one in this project used white, cream, yellow and a golden orange colour.

Because tulle lets so much light through, the effect it very pale

so if you wanted a brighter tutu, I'd recommend buying bolder tulle.

You need to start by measuring your child's waist,

so that you know the size to make your tutu.

I tied knots at the point where the two ends met round my daughter's tummy.

I then knew I needed to fill the gap between those two knots to make her tutu.

Then you need to cut your lengths of tulle.

Work out how long you want the skirt to be

and then double it.

This is the length of tulle that you need to cut.

It needs to be doubled as each length of tulle will be doubled over

as you attach it to the ribbon waistband.

You don't need to be really exact about your cutting or your lengths,

it won't show once the tutu is assembled.

Then you are ready to start putting your tutu together.

I found it easier to tie the waistband ribbon around a photo frame so that the ribbon was tight.

A book would work just as well,

or your own leg.

Just something to keep the ribbon still.

You fold the tulle in half

and tuck the loop under the waistband as shown in the photo above.

Then simply take your loose ends

and place them through the loop

over the top of the waistband.

This makes your knot.

Then pull your knot tight.

The tighter the knot the more you will fit around the waistband

and the fuller your tutu skirt will be.

It's also worth considering that the knots will be visible at the waistband

so try to keep them neat

and all the same way.

And then simply repeat again and again

until the desired length of waistband is full.

I used a variety of different colours

and I kind of got into a pattern with mine

so that they were mixed up

but still even.

The different effects you can achieve with the colours

is only limited by what you want to achieve.

You could do all one colour, 

alternating colours,

or a random mixture of colours.

Then all that's left to do

is find a little cutie to model your creation for you.

And if she's got great big chubby baby legs

to poke out of the bottom of it,

then even better.

Do let me know if you have a go at making your own tutu.

They really are so simple

and so so cute for photos or for special occasions.

(A certain little lady might have a special one ready for a special party 

coming up in the not too distant future.)