handmade holidays: knotted tutu.

For a while now, Thea has been asking me to make her a tutu. I decided to suprise her with one for Christmas.

I chose blue, as she has been obsessed with a "blue tutu dancing skirt" since she saw one in a neighbor's fantastic dress-up box.

This was so easy to make!

I started with a length of 1 inch elastic, cut to measure around Thea's waist (19 inches), and sewn together with a simple zig-zag stitch (this could also be hand-sewn).

I used about 8 yards of tulle, cut from a bolt (I used 2 shades of blue, so 4 yds from each bolt). I was a bit suprised that I actually used that much, but it seemed the perfect amount for a toddler-sized tutu. I kept the tulle folded in half and cut 5-6 inch strips with my rotary cutter and mat. You want your strips to be 5-6 inches in width and twice as long as your desired length.

I had read a while ago (but I can't remember where) that the easiest way to do the tying was to pull the elastic up around your thigh and sit while knotting. I tied all the strips around the elastic, alternating the colors.

To finish it up, I randomly cut some of the strips a couple inches shorter to give it more depth and texture.

In all of my cutting, I didn't worry too much about making straight cuts. I think the randomness of the cuts adds to the charm.

As I said, a super-easy and fast project. It took me less than 45 minutes, start to finish. (and I later discovered that they sell tulle in 6-inch width rolls, which would have made this go even faster).

If you make one, I'd love to see how yours turns out.

I'll post a photo of Thea sometime after Christmas day.

Comments

[Kat]

It looks perfect! I imagine she's going to love it.

[Lynn]

Your blues are gorgeous! Iris is getting one for Christmas, too. :) I highly recommend using the rolls - so easy! Iris wanted one of each of the colors I had, so hers will be blue, purple, pink, green and white. It's quite a sight.