How to make a no stitch tutu

My quest to make a tutu all started when I looked into buying a tutu for my daughter to wear on her first birthday. I quickly realised that they could be quite pricey and considering that I wanted to make one for myself too at some point, I thought I’d do a little research into making my own!

tutu

Now anyone that knows me, knows that I’m not a fan of sewing and would rather that I didn’t have to make something that looks a little botched together. So by eliminating the need for a needle and thread makes a huge difference to whether I will attempt a project or not.

What makes a tutu so simple is the fact that you only need two items. Tulle fabric and a crochet headband or length of ribbon. You just need a little bit of patience to cut several pieces of tulle and set some time aside to loop and tie it. You certainly don’t even need to be a crafty sort of person.

I came across a few tutorials on You Tube, all of which were from the US and the place where crafty supplies seem to be much more plentiful. I gathered tips from a few and thought I’d put together my own video on how to make one and where I bought my supplies too.

My first attempt involved making a rainbow coloured one. I’d seen a really pretty pastel rainbow tutu online and really struggled to source the right coloured tulle. In the end I popped into my local haberdashery shop where I chose some fabric from large rolls. This was made of a much firmer mesh (and not classed as tulle) but was ideal for using as my first little project. It cost me less that £5 for seven colours and I could probably make another with the cuttings I have left. As the rolls of mesh were large, I had to cut the pieces into six inch wide strips but I even cut the lengths needed for assembling it. I actually cut the pieces fairly roughly but you can’t tell when it’s all finished. However, if you like your edges as straight and as neat as possible, then the six inch wide spools of tulle are your best bet.

Rainbow tutu

Not only did I want to make a tutu for my daughters birthday but I also wanted to make an adult one, so that we could have some photos taken in matching ones. If you haven’t already seen my post on our little photoshoot then you can see what we looked like here.

Here I am in the one I made in my size. Unfortunately kids crochet hairbands don’t generally fit around adult waists, so a band wasn’t an option but I do believe that you can get crocheted banding on spools, but I wasn’t successful in tracking any down. So the alternative for me was to use ribbon. I used a piece of white ribbon that was two inches wide, measured my waist and knotted the ribbon at each end where it needed to meet in the middle. Then you carry out the same process as with the band by feeding the tulle through the loop over the ribbon, along the length of the ribbon between your two knots.  The only downside is that you can’t layer it up as you can with a headband, but I found that it was plenty pouffy enough anyway.

whathannahdidnext

So if you fancy giving one a try then here is a guide that might be helpful when measuring up a tutu for small children:

Age 0-6 months – 10-12″ length pieces of tulle – (Tutu will measure 5-6″ long)
Age 6-12 months – 12-14″ length pieces of tulle – (Tutu will measure 6-7″ long)
Age 12-24 months –  14-16″ length pieces of tulle – (Tutu will measure 7-8″ long)
Age 2-3 years – 16-18″ length pieces of tulle – (Tutu will measure 8-9″ long)
Age 4-5 years – 19-20″ length pieces of tulle – (Tutu will measure 9-10″ long)

I bought the rolls of tulle from eBay and there are plenty of sellers to choose from. The headbands as mentioned in the video, were from Primark and Asda and the ribbon was from Hobbycraft.

I’d love to know how you get on, if you give it a try 🙂