Long & Lovely DIY Tutus

DIY Tulle Tutu Tutorial

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While this tutorial is originally meant to accompany a witch costume, the materials and process can be used to make a tutu for any occasion: princess, ballerina, or fairy parties... or just regular ol' dress-up! Just choose your favorite colors and follow the directions below!

My girls decided they wanted to be witches (specifically, scary witches) this year for Halloween, and I had a lot of fun putting together these costumes. This tutorial shows how I made their tutus, which ended up costing less than $10/each. I wanted them to be long and full, so if you shorten the length and spread out the strips, you could easily make one for even less! I let the girls pick out their colors for the skirts, and they were thrilled with how they all came together. Their vision came to fruition... because really, what's scarier than a witch in a tutu? ;)

And here's how I did them (p.s. everything is NO-SEW except for the elastic. If you don't want to sew that either, I would get a thin elastic and tie a double knot to close it):

Materials for DIY Witch Tutu Skirt 

• Rolls of tulle (anywhere from 50-75 yards total; probably 3-4 rolls depending on how many colors you want. I got some at Hobby Lobby and some at Joanns. The sparkly tulle is more expensive and you get less yardage, FYI. So of course, that's what the girls wanted. I told them they could pick one sparkly each, but I compromised with B2 so she got two sparklies.)
•  Black 1" Elastic (I needed about 18" for my 4 year old and 19" for my 5 year old so I got one package and had plenty leftover.)
  
  
  

 

Instructions for DIY Witch Tutu Skirt

• Cut your elastic according to size. To get the right size, measure your little one's waist and then subtract roughly 2 inches. This allows for some stretch and ensures the tutu won't fall down when she's wearing it.
• Sew your elastic closed. The best method I have found to do this is to basically sew a rectangle over the part where the two ends overlap. That give you a really strong closure.
• Cut your tulle to length. The easiest way to do this it to wrap your roll around a scrap of cardboard that is cut to your desired length (pics are below). Wrap-wrap-wrap until you're done, and then it's easy to cut across so that all your pieces are the same length. Make sure you only cut one side!!! I made the mistake of cutting from both sides the first time, and I wasted a bunch of material :( Repeat this wrapping and cutting step for each of your colors. Then lay each pile of tulle so it is accessible. 
  
  FYI: {Sizes I Used: I wanted an 18" skirt for my 4 year old and a 22" skirt for my 5 year old. In total, I cut 54 36" strips for my 4 year old-pink/orange skirt; I cut a total of 62 44" strips for my 5 year old-purple/black skirt}
• Place your elastic band on a steady, round object. I used vases for mine because it was the only thing I could find that was roughly the right circumference. This helps hold it in place for the next steps.
• Determine your color pattern, and start adding the strips! The pics below show the method I used. Continue until you reach the desired fullness of your tutu.
  
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  And that's it! It's amazing how truly simple this project is.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  As you can see from the pics, I also spruced the costumes up with some inexpensive accessories that you can read about here. Also, here's my tutorial on the black fleece DIY Witch Capes.
  
  
  

  Happy Halloween season!
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