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Have you ever paid to go watch a ballet performance only for you to get distracted by the magical flying dress of the performer instead of focusing on the classic movements to understand the story behind it?
Indeed, you are not alone; that stunning dress you so much admire is known as a tutu, and it has the reputation of leaving such an impression on people. Interestingly, the dress is also part of the whole story!
Looking at the style, appearance, design, and elegance portrayed by this dress as the dancer moves about on the stage, you can’t help but wonder, how the hell is this dress made? Well, this article will solve that for you as you will be taught in detail about how to sew a Tutu with elastic and many other ways of sewing this fantastic dress.
How do you sew tutu with elastic
1. Prepare the Tutu fabric (Tulle) and the elastic
Tutu fabrics are available by bolt or spool. Since you will need a lot of fabrics, most designers often suggest buying by a bolt in fabric stores.
And if you want, you can also get your Tulle on a 6″ spool, but you should know that spooled tulles are precut to the exact width of making a tutu, and the only thing that will be left got you will be to determine the length.
For Tulle on the bolt, you will need at least 5 yards for child’s size tutu, 10 yards for small to medium adult-sized tutu, and up to 20 yards for large to the extra large adult-sized tutu.
For Tulle on a spool, you will need close to 2 to 3 spools of Tulle for a child’s sized tutu, 4 to 5 spools for small to medium adult sizes tutu, and 7 to 8 spools for large to extra large adult sized tutu.
Above all, just know that this is just an estimate and you should buy more than the required material.
2. Prepare your elastic
You will need at least a 3/4 inch strip of elastic to make the waistband of your tutu. For both adults and child-sized too, the 1-inch elastic should be enough, and 3/4 inch should be enough for a baby.
However, to ensure accuracy, you are advised to measure the waist of the owner of the tutu and then buy the elastic based on their length.
3. Cut Tulle strip (if you are using bolt)
Measure and cut the tulles if you purchased them on the bolt with a ruler or measuring tape. Then cut the Tulle into 7-inch wide strip.
4. Cut the Tulle according to the length
The length of the tutu skirt should be at least half the length of the strip cut earlier, then determine how long you want the skirt to be. Cut the strip according to the length.
5. Join the elastic together
Measure your waist and cut the elastic according to the measurement, then bind the ends of the elastic piece together by tieing or sewing them together.
6. Join the tulle strips and the elastic together
Place the elastic on another object. For example, you can use a mannequin while you work for convenience.
7. Pick up the strips and fold them halfway
Pick up your strips a few at a time so that the tutu can look fuller: 2 to 3 strips will be ok; do fold them to half their length. Ensure that the strip edges are well arranged, then put a finger through the strip’s folded end.
8. Tuck the fold beneath the elastic
Put the Tulle’s folded ends directly under the elastic band. Push up the end of the attached folded Tulle so that about 2 inches of the strip will be sticking out under the elastic.
9. Put the tulle strip’s ends through the opening.
Grab the Tulle by the end sticking out and draw then to the front of the elastic. Use the loop created by the strip’s folded ends to insert the ends. All the ends of the Tulle should be pulled through the loops so that you can have close knots around the elastic band.
Repeat this process for all the tulle strips attached to the elastic until the whole waistband is covered.
10. Scrunch and fan out the tutu fabric
Scrunch the tutu fabric with your finger and fan them out. Both of these steps are necessary. Fanning out your tutu fabric will make it appear fuller, and scrunching will make it look crinkly.
How to make a tutu with ribbon
Step 1
Instead of using elastic, you can use ribbon to make your tutu more fashionable. Cut about an 18-inch long ribbon (longer than the owner’s waist size) and tie it around an object (mannequin). Then make tight knots with the Tulle just as instructed earlier for elastic. After that, tie the ribbon in a bow-like pattern around your waist to hold the ribbon tutu.
Step II
To further decorate your ribbon tutu, you can add embellishments to it. You can make use of decorative buttons, flowers, brooch, bows, or any ornamental object that can enhance your design. Pin or see these embellishments to your tutu to hold them in place.
Step III
You can also Combine different colors for your tutu to make them look better.
How to make a tutu without elastic
If you don’t want to use elastic or ribbon, you can also make a tutu with a crochet headband base. Check the details below.
- Figure out the correct length of your tutu and double the measurement. Cut the tutu fabric to that exact measurement until you use up a whole spool. Organize the fabric pieces into a stack.
- Get a crochet headband that perfectly matches your tutu design.
- Wrap a newspaper or poster paper around a cylindrical object of your waist size. Tape or staple the paper to the object and wrap the headband around it.
- Fold each of the tutu fabric strips halfway, then draw the folded end of a strip down a hole at your headband’s bottom edge.
- Pick the loose ends of the attached Tulle and put them through the loop created earlier, and then tug them down. Resort this step until you have tied all your Tulle.
- Trim down strips of Tulle that seem longer than the other half at the bottom of your tutu with a pair of scissors.
