Make-your-own tutu

Ever wanted to make your own tutu? If you've got a daughter (or just like dressing up yourself...) then chances are you've bought one at some point. But they are seriously easy to make. 

Here are 2 different methods - now the world is your oyster (or tutu) as all you are limited by is what colour tulle you have :)

DIY tutu method 1

You need:

A crochet headband

Tulle 

Start off by cutting your tulle to the right length. Each piece needs to be just over twice as long as you want the final tutu length to be (see here for a chart giving rough lengths for children's ages). Then starting at the bottom of the headband (which will obviously be a waistband in this case) thread a piece of tulle in through one hole and put through the adjacent one. Then tie a single knot. Repeat all the way round the band and then depending how full you want the final tutu to be, you can add more layers above. 

After tying the first few pieces of tulle

The pink tutu below has 1 full layer and 1 half layer (with the top half later having alternate pink tulle and glitter tulle).

Teddy modelling the tutu

Once you've finished attaching your tulle just trim any lengths that aren't quite in line (it's not easy to always get the knot in exactly the same place but trimming at the end means this doesn't matter!). And there you go - a quick and easy tutu on a stretchy waistband :)

DIY tutu method 2

You need:

A ribbon

Tulle

This is even more simple than the first method and is quicker to make as you only have one double layer of tulle. So it depends which look you prefer - a fuller skirt or not. An advantage of this way is that you don't need a crochet headband and so can make the waistband as big (or small if making matching ones for a doll) as you like :)

I love this ribbon!

Tip: the quickest way I found to cut tulle - wrap it around something the right length (I used a wall calendar!) and keep wrapping round and round until you've roughly the right number of layers. Then cut through all of them  at once! Saved sooooo much time :)

Just cut along the border and you can cut 20-30 pieces of tulle in one go!

Get your ribbon or piece of elastic and measure roughly how much of it you need to cover (ie waist size). Then form a "U" shape with a piece of tulle with one side shorter than the other. Knot it onto the ribbon using either of the methods below. Make sure the shorter side lies on top of the other - this will form the upper layer of the skirt and give it more volume.

Either push through the loop

Or pull through from below

Once you've added enough tulle to go all the way round the skirt you can either tie it up with a bow or trim the ends and add some Velcro/poppers. 

Cute detail

She loves touching it :)

I love the rainbow effect and the way the knots are all different colours

So cute :)

******

So there it is - quick and simple DIY tutus - easy to make in half an hour and a fun way to spice up any outfit!

Even my toddler wanted to get in on the action :)

For my next project I am definitely going to make one of these - they look awesome!