Friday, September 11, 2009

How to make a tutu


I'm on the Enrichment Committee for our ward and we decided this would be a cute idea for Super Saturday. It's very simple!

Supplies
6 yards of tulle (I got mine at Walmart for $.97 a yard)
20 in. of 1/2 in. elastic
ruler
scissors
needle and thread (or a sewing machine)

To start, I cut my 6 yards of tulle into 1 yard pieces, you can have the fabric cutter person at the store do this for you.
Take your first piece and roll it (see pic). This is the easiest way to cut your tulle into strips. Measure 6 inches and cut. It doesn't have to be perfect, once you tie them to the elastic you won't even notice if one is slightly wider.
Second, you will need to sew your elastic into a circle. I measured 20 inches for my 2 year old, this fits a little big but it still works. You can sew the two ends together by hand but I found it much easier to use my sewing machine, and you can make it extra secure by sewing back and forth a few times.
Next you will start attaching the tulle to the elastic. At first I sat on the floor and put the elastic around my knees, after that got old I used the back of a chair to hold the elastic while I attached the tulle strips.
Take your piece of tulle and bring the ends together. Holding the tulle in front of the elastic I reach my other hand around and pull the ends through the loop attaching it to the elastic. This is really hard for me to explain, the pictures do a much better job. Slide the tulle strips close to each other, but not too tight together. Also, make sure you aren't pulling the tulle so much that the elastic bends.
Keep going until you've used all of your strips. After I removed it from the chair I had a little adjusting to do but it should fill the elastic.
Tada!

I've searched for the perfect tutu tutorial and made a few tutu's using different techniques. This way worked the best for me. Here are some of the tutorials I used.

http://july24tojuly24.blogspot.com/2009/04/how-to-make-tutu-with-photos.html


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7aSPMEn7S0 This is a video on youtube. It shows how to make a tutu using ribbon. This turns out really cute but the tutu isn't as full as using elastic.


http://www.gophotography.com/tutu/ This is where I got the chair idea.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Washer Necklace



They are super easy! I made these for my cousins but I have a ton of supplies left over so I've thought about selling them on Etsy. We'll see. I bought my chains from the Army Navy Store online and the charms came from Michaels. I think what I like about these the most is that it is a simple necklace that you can wear with a TShirt.
Here is the link I used to make my washer necklaces:
Washer necklace tutorial