My daughter is starting ballet, and her wardrobe was...lacking. I dressed her in a onesie and tennis shorts over tights. Ouch. Good thing she is just 3 and has no concept of "cool." She may have been a bit upset. Determined to not let that fashion faux pa happen twice, I decided to make her a tutu. Simple enough.
You will need:
-elastic (mine was about a half inch in thickness)
-tulle in your favorite colors (I think I used about 2 1/2 yards)
-garnishes (ribbon, flowers, pom-poms what ever you like)
-stapler or sewing machine.
Method:
Measure the length you want the tutu to be, and double that number. Cut 6 inch strips the length of the doubled number. Sadie's was 9 inches long, so I cut strips that were 18"X6". It is okay if they are not all exact, just as close as you can. Take your elastic and measure your child's waist with it, leave about a one inch overlap. Remove and staple (my preferred method), or if you are that nifty, sew it together. Now, the fun part--if you have a patient child (or one that will hold still with a movie--eh hem) have them step into the elastic circle so you can get to work. If not, you can do the next step in your lap, I just found it easier on my daughter. Using one strip at a time make a loop, and lace the whole thing under the elastic. Take your ends, pull around the elastic, through the loop, and tighten. Continue all the way around the elastic, make sure you do them all the same direction. When that was done, accessorize! I then took the little roses that are on wire (used for wedding crafts a lot) and wrapped them around the elastic and tucked the wire. I added ribbon, and a big flower to the side (so she could tell which side was the front).
Voilà! Plie!
