Make Your Own Tutu! A DIY Tutorial

My little girl is constantly wearing tutus.... even to bed.  It is quite amusing tucking her under her covers amongst all of the tulle.  Princesses are princesses even in their sleep, right?  Well, we've worn out our Tutu from Toys R Us and decided to make our own.  We're sharing our DIY tutu tutorial so you can help your little princess be a true princess!  It's really simple and not intimidating, so for those of you who aren't sewers or knitting or crocheters, you can definitely make this project for your little one or as a dress up gift for someone else.  Watch out, I might even make one for myself.... you know, you never stop being a princess!

Materials

• Tulle (we purchased tulle from Michaels in the wedding section)
• Elastic (we used 3/4" - also purchased from Michaels)
• Needle & Thread (use strong quilting thread doubled)
• Ribbon (for additional decorating)

Step 1:  Take your elastic and measure around the child's waist, adding an extra inch or so for overlap when you so it together.  For my 3 year old, I made the elastic about 19.5 inches.  Sew the elastic together with your needle and thread.

Step 2: Grab your tulle and select the desired length you'd like it to be.  You'll be folding it in half and tying knots around the elastic, so double the desired length and trim.  I just held some tulle up to my daughter to gauge the length.  Start cutting your tulle for the individual pieces of the tutu.  We made this tutu out of three colors: white, purple, and blue.

Step 3: Now you will start knotting the tulle pieces around the elastic.  We held two pieces of tulle together for each knot for this tutu to help give it a fuller look.  Make a loop with the tulle, pull it through, and tighten. 

Step 4:  Continue making tulle knots all the way around the elastic.

Step 5: (Optional) To add some extra pizzaz to your tutu, feel free to embellish with some ribbon.  I took some white ribbon and pulled it through each blue piece of tulle and tied a bow with a double knot.

Enjoy your tutu!